Changes in fishing licence variations: 1 April 2023

Vessels using demersal trawls and seines

The vessel may only keep on board:

• unavoidable by-catches of sea bass. These must not exceed 5% of the weight of the total catches of marine organisms on board during any single fishing trip
• no more than 3.8 tonne (3800kg) per vessel per year

Vessels authorised to fish using hooks and lines

The vessel may only keep on board or land sea bass which does not exceed in total 6.2 tonnes per calendar year.

Vessels authorised to fish using fixed gillnets

The vessel may only keep on board bycatches of sea bass not exceeding 1.6 tonnes per calendar year.

Details

You may not fish Picked dogfish, also known as Spurdog (Squalus acanthias) in sea areas I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, XII and XIV.

Each calendar year a fishing vessel may keep on board and land spurdog (also known as Picked dogfish (Squalus acanthias)). This must be caught in:

• Western (ICES areas: 6, 7 and 8; United Kingdom and international waters of 5; international waters of 1, 12 and 14), and
• North Sea (ICES areas: United Kingdom and European Union waters 4; United Kingdom waters of 2a) areas

if the following conditions, when operating in both UK and EU waters, are met:

• no more than 5 tonnes caught in the Western area, in live weight, may be kept on board or landed per calendar month
• it is prohibited to keep, tranship or land specimens over 100cm in length. These are measured from the end of the tail to the tip of the snout

Western Water scallop effort days set to 70 days for Q2 (00:01, 1st April 2023 to 23:59, 30th June 2023).

This licence does not authorise fishing for queen scallops (aequipecten opercularis) in ICES area VIa and VIIa between 00:01 on 1 April 2023 and 23:59 on 30 June 2023.