Guidance

Small fishing vessel safety requirements

Information about safety requirements for registering small fishing vessels.

Documents

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email [email protected]. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email [email protected]. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email [email protected]. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

Small fishing vessels ie those under 15m length overall (LOA) don鈥檛 need a regular statutory survey. However, UK law requires that they are seaworthy and equipped to a safe standard before they can be registered.

This guidance advises you about the types of certificate and inspection you need. This depends on the LOA and age of your vessel.

You鈥檒l also find details of who to contact to arrange for a safety inspection.

Single Handed Fishing

The MCA has published a new leaflet provided guidance on specific areas you need to consider if you fish on your own.

Single Handed Fishing Guidance

Updates to this page

Published 1 May 2014
Last updated 31 January 2020 show all updates
  1. Updated link, added hyperlink

  2. New documents added

  3. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page