Summary and Background Part 7: Fisheries Chapter 1: The Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 Section 196: Charging for commercial fishing licences
504.This section adds a new subsection (4A) to section 4 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967. Section 4 gives powers to charge for commercial sea fishing vessel licences. Subsection (4A) enables the Ministers to specify the amount of the charge in the order, to make provision in the order as to how the charge should be determined or to provide that in specified circumstances no charge will be payable. The new subsection clarifies the existing power for the Ministers to vary the amount of charge for different classes of licence. An amendment to section 22 of the Act provides that “class” may relate to any circumstances whatsoever, including, for example, vessel length, vessel tonnage or gear type. The amendments made by this section extend to England and Wales only.