Last year the Scottish Government consulted on a number of measures to tackle the longstanding issue of fishermen selling their catch without a licence. After taking into account the views of the industry, a catch limit will now be set to prevent the illegal selling of fish by those without a licence. We will work with the industry to set an appropriate catch limit.
The Scottish Government will also continue to target unlicensed commercial fishermen at sea and work with buyers of the catch to ensure they comply with regulations to prevent unlicensed commercial fishing.
Mr Lochhead said: “We have heard from the industry about the detrimental impact that unlicensed fishing is having on our fishermen. This is why we must introduce catch limits to prevent others from selling their catch illegally.
“These measures will help clarify the situation for fishermen. We want to make sure that those who operate unlicensed fishing vessels and who chose to sell their catches are aware of the need to have a licence and the consequences of not having one.
“I intend to review the measures to monitor their effectiveness and look to introducing further measures if necessary.”
