The Scottish Government has announced amendments to the economic link license condition contained in all Scottish over 10 metre vessel sea fisheries licences.
Currently, Scottish vessels landing more than 2 tonnes of species subject to total allowable catch (TACs) are required to demonstrate a real economic link to the United Kingdom in one of the following ways:
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- by landing 50% of quota stocks caught in any calendar year into UK ports (“the landings target”);
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- by employing crew 50% of whom normally reside in the UK;
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- by incurring 50% of operating expenditure in the UK; or
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- if a licence holder fails to meets any of these options, or a combination thereof, they are required to provide quota to their relevant authority – so called “Gifted Quota”.
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In the 2017 consultation, the Scottish Government proposed to make the following amendments to the economic link licence condition:
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- remove the options for demonstrating compliance through crewing and operating expenditure;
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- change the landings target so that landings must be made into Scotland rather than into the UK;
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- increase the landings target to 55% of all quota species caught, with transitional arrangements proposed for pelagic species so that for pelagic species, there would be an initial landings target of 30% in 2018, 40% in 2019 and then 55% by 2020; and,
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- continue to offer the option of gifting quota as an alternative to meeting the landings target but having adjusted the formula used to estimate a suitable quota gift to better reflect the Gross Value Added (GVA) from fishing.
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The Scottish Government will introduce the following amendments to economic link arrangements from 1 January 2023:
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- landings into Scotland will form the main basis for compliance with the economic link licence condition;
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- the options for demonstrating compliance through crewing and/or operating expenditure will no longer be available;
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- the option to gift quota in lieu of landings into Scotland will continue with the formula used to estimate a suitable quota gift amended to better reflect the GVA from fishing;
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- the minimum level for qualifying for economic link criteria will increase from landings of two tonnes to landings of 10 tonnes;
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- the required rate to satisfy the landings target will increase from 50% to 55% for demersal and shellfish stocks covered by the provision;
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- the landings target rate for pelagic species will be phased in and increased to 55% over a three year period. This will see the introduction of the following landings targets for pelagic species:
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- 30% landings in 2023
- 40% landings in 2024
- 55% landings in 2025
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- the landings target will only cover the eight most important species, by landed value, into Scotland. These are – herring, mackerel, Nephrops, haddock, monkfish, cod, hake and whiting (“the 8 key species”) which account for 90% of the value of total landings by Scottish vessels of TAC stocks.
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The policy will be kept under review and may be amended if required.
Here is the full report
consultation-proposals-amend-economic-link-licence-condition-outcome-report
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