Publication - Factsheet

Fishing vessel weekly licences: changes effective 15 May 2026

Published: 15 May 2026
Directorate: Marine Directorate
Topic: Marine and fisheries

Scottish fishing vessel licence variations announced on 15 May 2026.

Part of

Fishing vessel weekly licence variations

OPENING

Group	Type of Licence	Reason	Species	Area of Sea	Effective Date
10 Metre and Under – all sub-groups	AU	Opening	Mackerel	IIIa &IV; EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	00:01 hours on 17 May 2026
Non-sector	AO	Opening	Mackerel	IIIa &IV; EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	00:001 hours on 17 May 2026
10 Metre and Under – all sub-groups	AU	Opening	Mackerel	VI, VII, VIIIabde; EU and International Waters of Vb; International Waters of IIa, XII and XIV	00:01 hours on 17 May 2026
Non-sector	AO	Opening	Mackerel	VI, VII, VIIIabde; EU and International Waters of Vb; International Waters of IIa, XII and XIV	00:001 hours on 17 May 2026

CATCH LIMITS

Group	Type of Licence	Reason	Species	Area of Sea	Limit	Effective Date
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (Moray Firth)	AU	Catch limit set	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 1.5 tonnes	0001 hours on 17 May 2026 - 2359 hours on 30 May 2026
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (Shetland)	AU	Catch limit set	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 1 tonne	0001 hours on 17 May 2026 - 2359 hours on 30 May 2026
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (Orkney)	AU	Catch limit set	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 1 tonnes	0001 hours on 17 May 2026 - 2359 hours on 30 May 2026
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (IVb or East coast)	AU	Catch limit set	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 2 tonnes	0001 hours on 17 May 2026 - 2359 hours on 30 May 2026

Group	Type of Licence	Reason	Species	Area of Sea	Limit	Effective Date
10 Metre and Under- Non PO	AU	Catch limit set	Mackerel	VI, VII, VIIIabde; EU and International Waters of Vb; International Waters of IIa, XII and XIV	Monthly catch limit of 3 tonnes	0001 hours on 17 May 2026
Non sector	AO	Catch limit set	Mackerel	VI, VII, VIIIabde; EU and International Waters of Vb; International Waters of IIa, XII and XIV	Monthly catch limit of 3 tonnes	0001 hours on 17 May 2026

Fishing vessel quota limits tables: 2026 - showing the quota limits applicable to 10m and under and over 10m non-sector vessels.

Fisheries closures table: 2026 - showing all fisheries closures, by group, for Scottish fishing licences.

Bluefin Tuna (BFT) fisheries in 2026

News on application processes for the 2026 Bluefin tuna (BFT) commercial and recreational fisheries is now available.

Bluefin tuna (BFT) fisheries in 2026 - GOV.UK

NS mackerel (AU category)

Please follow the following link for advice for the upcoming mackerel season, Fishing - North Sea mackerel 2026: Scottish 10m and under vessels (AU licence category) - gov.scot

New guidance for UK vessels that land into EU ports

We have been notified that there are some UK flagged vessels attempting to land into EU ports that have not been following the correct requirements. We have contacted the EU for further information and to ensure that landings can continue into EU Member State Ports.

https://fishtraceship.campaign.gov.uk/faqs-v2/

Urgent Notice to Fishers

From 10 January 2026, exporters together with the wider supply chain, will be required to provide additional information for seafood leaving the UK.

As a licensed fisherman, these changes DO affect you unless you sell an exempt species. If you have not done so already, we are now urgently advising you to ensure you are compliant with the new requirements by the 8 January in advance of the upcoming deadline. This ensures you or your business can continue to trade efficiently.

You will also receive another version of this letter if you are a registered Fish Export Service user.

Reminder: What is changing

These are the changes which may not all be relevant to you, but it is important you are aware of them.

new data fields on Catch Certificates (including fishing trip start date, gear type, area fished, transport details).
a new section to the Storage Document for you to provide details for the arrival of the fish produce to the UK will be released on November 20. The Storage Document will be renamed to Non-Manipulation Document in January 2026
the requirement to produce a Processing Statement for any seafood processed on land in the UK, and new weights information for the Processing Statement.

The FES system has now been updated with changes required to comply with the new regulations when they come into force on 10 January. There will be one final update on 8 January to make it mandatory to provide this new information and to include this information on the UK documents.

If you land your catch and sell within the UK, you must pass on this additional information to the buyer so it can be passed through the supply chain.

If you land directly into a country that requires a catch certificate, including Northern Ireland for GB vessels, you must provide this additional information from January 2026.

These and more detail about all the changes can be viewed on our campaign site. Visit https://fishtraceship.campaign.gov.uk or use the QR code below and access links to Guidance, FAQs and engagement webinars.

We have also produced a new series of step-by-step videos to help guide you through the changes and created example labelling templates for each stage of the supply chain.

What you need to do

Please understand what is changing even if you think you are not directly affected as you may not be able to sell on your produce without the appropriate documentation information.

Unsubscribe

If you don’t want to hear more about FES, please email UKIUUSLO@marinemanagement.org.uk to be removed from future mailings.

New

Labels – two label examples have been loaded up on to the FTS site – one under the Fishermen section and the other under Exporters.

Fishermen - Fish, Trace, Ship

Exporters - Fish, Trace, Ship

Regular key links include: