Section 16 — Foreign fishing boats required to be licensed if within British fishery limits
This version in force from 2020-12-31
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) Fishing within British fishery limits by a foreign fishing boat is prohibited unless authorised by a licence.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to fishing in waters lying within 12 miles of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea adjacent to the Isle of Man is measured.
(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations amend this section so as to add, remove or vary exceptions to the prohibition in subsection (1).
(4) Regulations under subsection (3) may not be made without the consent of—
(a) the Scottish Ministers,
(b) the Welsh Ministers, and
(c) the Northern Ireland department.
(5) Regulations under subsection (3) are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.
(6) Where a boat is used in contravention of subsection (1), the master, the owner and the charterer (if any) are each guilty of an offence.
(7) For further provision about an offence under subsection (6) (including provision as to penalties), see sections 19 to 21.
(8) In this section “licence” means a licence granted under section 17.