• A fishing vessel licence is the authority for a registered (with the Register of Shipping and Seamen at Cardiff) fishing vessel to fish commercially and land its catch for profit
• Authorises the sea areas in which a vessel can fish and the species of fish that can be targeted.
• Licence is the mechanism of control that enables UK Fisheries Administrations to regulate fishing under the quotas (TACs) set and allocated annually to the UK under the EU Common Fisheries Policy
• Main domestic licences cover all species in the waters of ICES Divisions IIa (EC Zone), IV, Vb (EC Zone), VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII (excluding Greenland Fishery Zones), XIV (excluding Greenland Fishery Zones) and CECAF 34.1.1 (EC Zone) - also authorises vessel to fish for Saithe and Mackerel in ICES Divisions IIIa and IIIb,c,d (EC Zone); and Sole in ICES Division II
• Separate licences, known as external waters licences, are issued for sea areas other than those listed above