Fishing vessel weekly licence variations: 31 January 2020

There are no new licence variations this week. 

OPERATIONAL UPDATE: BREXIT Business as usual

As you are aware legislation has now been passed in the House of Commons which ratifies the EU Withdrawal Agreement, taking the UK out of the European Union. As of 23:00 on 31 January 2020 the UK will be in an Implementation Period (also referred to as the transition period) where current EU rules and regulations (and any new legislation made during the course of 2020) will continue to have effect whilst the terms of our future relationship with European Union are negotiated through an EU UK Trade Deal. Therefore, your current regulatory obligations under the Common Fisheries Policy and marine environment legislation remain in full effect throughout 2020 and there are no changes to your operational reporting requirements or obligations.  If you have any queries about your ongoing obligations please contact your local fishery office in the first instance.

The aim is to conclude an EU UK Fisheries Agreement by 1 July 2020 and a Free Trade Agreement with the EU by the end of December 2020.  As such, Marine Scotland will continue to monitor the progress of negotiations throughout the year and how this will impact your business operations in January 2020.  If you have any queries please contact the Marine Scotland EU Hub marine.brexit@gov.scot

Marine Scotland has undertaken significant preparations for the potential “no deal” exit from the EU and would like to thank members of the industry who provided valuable operational feedback on the application of Export Health Certificates and Catch Certificates.