03 Feb 2026

Photo by Fotogra   The Marine Management Organisation has secured its second successful prosecution for breaches of Marine Protected Area byelaws, following a guilty plea at North Tyneside Magistrates Court relating to illegal fishing activity inside the Canyons Marine Conservation Zone. On 29 January 2026, Marcos Gonzales-Rivera, a Spanish national and master of the British-registered […]

03 Feb 2026

Photo by Ben Wicks   The Marine Management Organisation has granted a marine licence for a pioneering kelp restoration initiative led by Newcastle University and the Marine Biological Association aimed at reviving native kelp beds along England’s northeast coast. The Green Gravel Kelp Restoration Project will combat climate change and biodiversity loss by reintroducing juvenile […]

26 Jan 2026

Photo by Max Shirko   A prolonged data transmission failure affecting inshore vessel monitoring systems has left the Marine Management Organisation without live positional information from an unknown number of fishing vessels, five months after equipment supplier Succorfish stopped forwarding data amid an unresolved contract dispute. The issue, which began on 11 August 2025, continues […]

13 Jan 2026

Photo by Ray Harrington   UK fishing vessels and seafood exporters face significant new regulatory requirements from 10 January 2026, as two separate sets of EU rules take effect simultaneously, imposing additional compliance burdens across the catching and export sectors. New fishing control rules for UK vessels in EU waters New European Union fisheries control […]

09 Dec 2025

Photo by Paul Einerhand   The Marine Management Organisation has published its annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics for 2024, revealing modest growth in landings alongside a continued long-term decline in fishing effort. The report provides a comprehensive overview of fishing activity across all UK fishing authorities. In 2024, UK vessels landed 745 thousand tonnes of sea fish with a […]

09 Dec 2025

Photo by Lisha Riabinina   The UK will require seafood exporters to provide new information to generate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing documentation through the Fish Export Service from the evening of 8 January 2026. The change comes slightly earlier than the EU’s requirement, which takes effect on 10 January, with the UK choosing this date […]

02 Dec 2025

Photo by Mick Haupt   Scotland’s £1 billion fishing and seafood sector faces significant regulatory changes as new EU import requirements around traceability come into force on 10 January 2026, prompting urgent calls for industry preparation across the entire supply chain. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), working with the Scottish Government, has launched the #FishTraceShip campaign to […]

02 Dec 2025

Photo by Benjamin L. Jones   The Marine Management Organisation has published comprehensive guidance on seagrass protection and recovery, highlighting the importance of this marine habitat which has declined by over 40% in the UK since the 1930s. The guidance provides information on UK seagrass, the value of this underwater flowering plant, and the MMO’s role in […]