What is an FQA Unit?

Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) Units are the mechanism used by UK Fisheries Administrations to allocate UK fishing quota for most commercially managed fish stocks amongst the UK fishing fleet.

The FQA Unit system commenced in 1999 with each UK fishing vessel then being issued with a number of FQA units for each stock for which it had fished, corresponding with its uptake of that stock during the period 1994 – 1996 (e.g. if a vessel had caught 0.5% of the UK uptake of North Sea Cod (between 1994 and 1996 then it would have been issued with 0.5% of the FQA units for North Sea Cod which were created and issued with effect from 1^st January 1999) and the FQA Unit system has remained in place since then.

Each FQA Unit represents a share of the UK’s annual quota for a particular fish stock (the Total Allowable Catch (TAC)) rather than a fixed quantity of fish. The TAC is the annually determined limit for each fish stock which can be caught and landed in that year.  The annual determination follows upon negotiation between the UK and the other Coastal States which have an interest in the particular fish stock.  For the UK, the main Coastal States are the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands. The number of tonnes of quota allocated on each FQA Unit varies from year to year depending on the UK’s TAC for that stock.

FQA Units are attached to the licence of a fishing vessel or its Fish Producer Organisation. FQA Units may be transferred between licence holders and Fish Producer Organisations, subject to applicable licensing rules and regulatory requirements. That transferability has created a trade in FQA Units with regular sale and purchase transactions with value of each FQA Unit dependent on the supply and demand at the particular time.

UK Fisheries Administrations operate an online FQA Unit Register in which the FQA Units attached to each vessel / licence and Fish Producer Organisation can be viewed.

If you would like to discuss a valuation, marketing, advertisement and  sale of FQA Units, please contact Cameron Milne. Our commercial team has experience in advising on FQA Unit transactions and can assist with the valuation and marketing of FQA Units and progressing the necessary documentation and transfer arrangements through to completion.