Annex
LICENSING AND QUOTA MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM
LICENSING
1. Vessels in the UK fishing fleet have
to be licensed to fish under the provisions of Council Regulation
(EC) No 3690/93 which took effect from 1 January 1995.
2. The powers of UK Fisheries Ministers
to license fishing vessels and to control fishing activities derive
from the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 and from statutory instruments
made under that Act, primarily the Sea Fish Licensing Order 1992
(SI 1992 No 2633, as amended). Subject to one or two very minor
and limited exceptions, the Order prohibits UK registered or British
owned vessels from fishing for profit for sea fish except in accordance
with a licence.
3. Fishing vessel licences are issued at
the discretion of Ministers and currently without charge. In practice,
licences are normally issued to any person holding a valid licence
entitlement. Such entitlements arise where a licence is removed
from a previously licensed vessel and must be used to license
a vessel within two years.
4. Licences are used as a mechanism for
managing the capacity of the fishing fleet. Each licence specifies
the tonnage and power of the vessel concerned and so cumulatively
licences define the total tonnage and power of the fleet. Because
no additional licences are issued a cap is effectively placed
on the fleet. If a fisherman wishes to acquire a licence to bring
a new or second hand vessel into the UK fleet he must do so by
acquiring a licence, with sufficient capacity, from an existing
vessel.
5. For the purpose of licence transfers
fishing vessel capacity is measured in terms of vessel capacity
units (length x breadth in metres plus 45 per cent of the engine
power in kilowatts). A system of capacity penalties applies to
licence transfers. These penalties range from 10 per cent for
a single licence transfer to 30 per cent for an aggregation on
to a single vessel involving three or more licences. The tonnage
and engine power of a newly licensed vessel must also not exceed
those of the vessel or vessels from which the licence came.
6. The licence penalties help to constrain
the fishing capacity of the fleet. At the same time, facilitating
the transfer of fishing vessel licences enables ownership and
fleet structure to develop in response to economic and other needs
including permitting:
(a) a father to pass on a fishing vessel
to his son or another close relative;
(b) fishermen to sell up and leave the industry
(eg because of age, ill health or diminishing fishing opportunities)
and to retain capital value from the fishing enterprise;
(c) new entrants to join the industry;
(d) the restructuring of existing fishing
businesses including changes in their ownership; and
(e) the modernisation and/or replacement
of ageing fishing vessels.
7. Vessel licences are also used as the
mechanism for some aspects of quota management (as described below)
and for implementing other measures to protect fish stocks such
as rules on closed areas, discards and landing restrictions (designated
ports).
QUOTA MANAGEMENT
8. A high proportion of the fishing opportunities
is allocated to member states in the form of national quotas which
are managed according to national rules.
9. In managing the UK's quotas the Fisheries
Departments have three objectives:
(i) to ensure that quotas are managed equitably;
(ii) to make full use of the fishing opportunities;
and
(iii) to ensure that quota allocations are
not exceeded.
10. The arrangements for managing quotas
are reviewed annually with the fishing industry. Under present
arrangements, the UK's quotas are allocated to three groups:
— individual producer organisations
(POs) on behalf of those members with vessels over 10 metres;
— the non sector, comprising vessels
over 10 metres in length which do not belong to POs; and
— all vessels of 10 metres and under
in length.
The allocations themselves are based on the
catches made by the vessel within each group over a rolling three-year
reference period, currently 1994 to 1996.
11. Producer organisations are permitted
to set their own rules to manage their allocations provided that
they do not exceed their allocations. Most POs set monthly catch
limits which apply to all vessels in membership: some have chosen
to set annual vessel or company quotas for their members.
12. The quota allocations for the non-sector
and the under 10 metre fleet are directly managed by UK Fisheries
Departments in consultation with the fishing industry. For the
non-sector, monthly catch limits are set by joint committees on
which Fisheries Departments and industry are both represented.
These monthly limits are incorporated into the fishing vessel
licences issued to non-sector vessels. Catch limits are not set
for the under 10 metre fleet: instead here vessels are allowed
to fish until their collective quota allocations have been taken
in full.
13. Uptake of quota by the UK as a whole,
and by individual groups, is monitored by Fisheries Departments.
When a group has taken its quota allocation in full, its vessels
are prohibited from making further landings of the stock in question.
For vessels over 10 metres this is effected by varying the licences
of the vessels in order to prohibit further landings. The under
10 metre fleet may be prohibited from fishing in the same way,
although for this group such prohibitions are normally effected
by means of statutory prohibition orders.
14. In June 1998, following the advice of
a government/industry working group and extensive consultation
with the fishing industry, Ministers announced that a system of
fixed quota allocation would operate from1 January 1999. This
will entail linking the annual allocations made to producer organisations
and other groups to the catches made in the fixed reference period
1994 to 1996. The main advantages will include greater year-on-year
stability in the level of groups' allocations and less pressure
on groups to maximise their landings each year in order to maintain
quota share for future years.
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