Publication - Factsheet

Fishing vessel weekly licences: changes effective 23 January 2026

Published: 23 January 2026
Directorate: Marine Directorate
Topic: Marine and fisheries

Scottish fishing vessel licence variations announced on 23 January 2026.

Part of

Fishing vessel weekly licence variations

Restricted Areas

Producer Organisation/Non -Producer Organisation Group

Type of licence

Licence condition(s) text amendment

Effective date

All 10 metre and over groups

All under 10 metre and under groups

AU & AUP

Update to Section 1.12

Restricted areas - Offshore Marine Protected areas including controls with respect to fishing in specified parts of the sea including Cod seasonal closures (both in section 5 of this licence).

1.12 The Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 introduces new fisheries management measures across 20 offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scottish waters. Unless it is intending to fish with permitted gears, when the vessel to which this licence relates is present within any of the areas described in the above Order it must:

a) maintain a speed of six knots or more (except in the case of force majeure or adverse conditions, where it must contact the UKFMC in advance of entering a restricted area) and,

b) prior to entry into any of those areas, ensure that all fishing gear is lashed and stowed in accordance with Article 47 of retained regulation EU 1224/2019 and remains lashed and stowed until its departure from it

1.13 The provisions specified in paragraph(s) 1.12 a & b above apply equally to controls with respect to specified areas of the sea and cod seasonal closures detailed in section 5 of this licence.

Update to Section 5.32

Restricted areas - Offshore Marine Protected areas including controls with respect to fishing in specified parts of the sea including Cod seasonal closures (both in section 5 of this licence).

5.32 The Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 introduces new fisheries management measures across 20 offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scottish waters. Unless it is intending to fish with permitted gears, when the vessel to which this licence relates is present within any of the areas described in the above Order it must:

a) maintain a speed of six knots or more (except in the case of force majeure or adverse conditions, where it must contact the UKFMC in advance of entering a restricted area) and,

5.33 The provisions specified in paragraph(s) 5.32 a & b above apply equally to controls with respect to specified areas of the sea and cod seasonal closures detailed in section 5 of this licence.

23 January 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.

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 do I 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: