Starting in 2025, Scottish fishing boats longer than 10 meters that land more than 10 metric tons of key fish species will face stricter licensing requirements aimed at bringing more economic benefits to coastal communities, the Scottish government announced.
The new regulations will require vessels to land at least 55% of eight key species -- cod, haddock, whiting, nephrops, hake, anglerfish, herring and mackerel -- at Scottish ports each calendar year. Alternatively, boats can provide Scotland access to fishing quota shares worth 26% of the value not landed in Scottish ports in the previous year.
The measures expand on previous policies that went into effect in 2023 and 2024 obligating Scottish boats to land 30% of their pelagic catch this year and 40% next year at UK ports for herring and mackerel, rather than abroad.
Vessels that fail to meet the 2024 landing requirements will face fishing quota penalties in 2025 under the existing quota recovery system. After March 2025, the Scottish government plans to publish a report on non-compliant boats and recovered quotas.
Officials said they will monitor compliance with the new economic link license rules and adjust them as necessary to benefit coastal towns and fisheries-dependent areas.
Comments (0)
To view or post comments, simply
Already registered? Log in here:
Enter the email address associated with your account. We'll send you instructions to reset your password.
We’ve sent a link to to change your password.
Please check your inbox to reset your password securely and easily.