First-sale fish registration (Scotland): buyers, sellers and auctions, Marine Directorate
Who must be registered to buy or sell first-sale fish in Scotland under the Sea Fishing (EU Control Measures) (Scotland) Order 2015, how to register, the records and sales notes you must keep, and the penalties.
If you buy fish from a fishing boat in Scotland, or sell it at an auction, you must be registered with the Scottish Ministers (through the Marine Directorate) as a buyer or seller of first-sale fish, and any auction site must be registered too. The rules are in the Sea Fishing (EU Control Measures) (Scotland) Order 2015 (SSI 2015/320), which enforces the marketing controls in Regulation (EC) 1224/2009 as it applies in the United Kingdom. The Order replaced the Registration of Fish Sellers and Buyers and Designation of Auction Sites (Scotland) Regulations 2005, which it revoked with effect from 5 October 2015.
"First-sale fish" means fish that is being sold for the first time. Farmed fish is excluded (article 2). So this regime applies to wild-caught fish and shellfish landed from fishing boats, not to a fish farm selling its own stock.
- Statutory source
- Sea Fishing (EU Control Measures) (Scotland) Order 2015 (SSI 2015/320), Part 2, articles 4 to 12, in force since 5 October 2015
- Who must be a registered buyer
- Anyone who buys first-sale fish from a fishing boat, unless the purchase in one day is no more than 30 kilograms and the fish is used only for private consumption and is not placed on the market (article 5)
- Who must be a registered seller
- Anyone who offers first-sale fish for sale at an auction. Fish may only be offered at a registered auction, and only by a registered seller (article 4)
- Fee
- Registration and designation are free (Scottish Government)
- Sales notes
- A buyer's sales note is completed within 48 hours of the purchase and sent to the Aberdeen Fishery Office. A seller's sales note is completed within 48 hours of the sale and sent to the Fishery Office at the port of landing (Scottish Government)
- Records
- Keep a record of each purchase or sale for 3 years from its date and produce it when a British sea-fishery officer asks (articles 7 and 9)
- Businesses not based in the UK
- Send your records of every purchase or sale to the Scottish Ministers by 31 December each year, and produce them within 28 days of a request (articles 7(2), 7(5), 9(2), 9(5))
- Penalty
- On summary conviction a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum. On conviction on indictment a fine. The court can also revoke your registration and disqualify you from registering again, for a set period or without limit (article 22)
- Public register
- Registered buyers, sellers and designated auction sites are listed on the Marine Directorate's online register
How to register
- Apply in writing in the form the Scottish Ministers specify. Application forms and explanatory leaflets are on the Scottish Government's registration of buyers and sellers pages. Anyone may apply (articles 6(2) and 8(2)).
- Give the information and undertakings the form asks for. This includes the address in the United Kingdom where you will keep your records. A false or misleading statement in the application, made knowingly or recklessly, is an offence, as is intentionally failing to disclose material information (articles 6(8) and 8(8)).
- Wait for the written decision. The Ministers may register you unconditionally, register you subject to conditions, or refuse. If they approve, they tell you any conditions and give you a registration number (articles 6(4), 6(5), 8(4) and 8(5)).
- To register an auction site or centre, apply separately under article 10. The Ministers publish the registration.
What you must do once registered
- Comply with your conditions and undertakings. Breach is an offence (articles 6(7) and 8(7)). The Ministers can suspend a registration if you have not complied with a condition of registration or with a requirement of Article 62, 63, 64, 66 or 67 of Regulation 1224/2009, the post-landing marketing controls (articles 6(9) and 8(9)).
- Keep the purchase or sale record. For each transaction record the date and location, the quantity of each species, the price for each species, the name and port letters and number (PLN) of the vessel that landed the fish, the name, address and registration number of the other party, and the invoice or contract reference (articles 7(3) and 9(3)).
- Complete sales notes on time. Submit them within 48 hours to the office named above.
- Only handle fish landed by licensed boats. It is an offence to market first-sale fish landed in the United Kingdom by a boat that is not licensed, and an offence to buy fish from an unlicensed boat. It is a defence to show that you did not know, and it was reasonable not to suspect, that the boat was unlicensed (articles 11 and 12).
Inspection and enforcement
British sea-fishery officers can enter business premises and land used for the treatment, storage or sale of fisheries products, examine fish, require documents, take copies, and seize documents and fish they suspect are linked to an offence. They can stop and search vehicles thought to be carrying fisheries products. A sheriff can grant a warrant to enter premises or seize computers (article 14). Failing to comply with an officer's requirement, or concealing or tampering with evidence, is an offence (article 17). A director, manager or partner can be prosecuted with the business if the offence was committed with their consent or connivance or through their neglect (article 18).