Apply for a Dee cockle fishery licence
Applications are now open for a Dee cockle fishery licence and will close on 14 June 2021.
Who is eligible to apply
To be eligible to apply for a Dee cockle fishery licence you must:
- have passed the fit and proper persons test
- be able to show evidence of your experience
- be at least 16 years old before the first day of the cockle fishing season you are applying for
Information you need to provide in your application
Fit and proper persons assessment
To maintain an active position on the licence allocation list you must pass the fit and proper person assessment.
You'll need to carry out a DBS basic check and send us your DBS application reference and share code.
The three areas that we will assess are:
- unspent fisheries convictions or cautions
- other relevant unspent criminal convictions or cautions
- a history of non-compliance or poor behaviour
An applicant who fails the fit and proper person assessment under any of these three areas will have their position on the licence allocation list suspended.
Your evidence
You'll need to send us evidence of your relevant experience. Your evidence must show at least one of the following:
- you've actively and materially participated in the Dee cockle fishery or in a cockle fishery elsewhere
- you've operated as a commercial fisher on the Dee or as a commercial fisher elsewhere
- you've owned a registered fishing vessel or been qualified as a vessel skipper
Examples of evidence you'll need to send us include:
- Tax returns
- Catch returns
- Sales invoices
- Landing documentation
- MCA records of ownership of vessels, fleet registers, original certificates showing relevant qualifications
- Evidence from a verifiable source to demonstrate activity in fishing industry. This could be NWIFCA or MMO permits or communications
- Photographs - if they are legible and verifiable, such as photos of permits or licences. We cannot accept photos if they are unverifiable, for example an individual standing on or next to a fishing boat
Illness or disability which has stopped you from working
If you can demonstrate participation in the fishery during at least one full fishing season but illness or disability stopped you from participating in one or more subsequent years, you can submit evidence of your illness or disability to us.
Evidence can include:
- records of statutory payments, for example, statutory sick pay, disability living allowance or incapacity benefit, or other statutory payments that relate to disability or incapacity to work
- contemporaneous medical records which satisfactorily demonstrate that you were medically unfit to participate throughout the fishing season(s)
We may ask for additional information to verify applications. When you submit medical records you must give a waiver that you give us permission to contact your medical practitioner for verification.
Income tax returns
You should submit an income tax return for each of year of evidence you provide between 2015 and 2020. The income tax return must state that at least some of your income was derived from commercial fishing activity. If you submit no income tax return for a year, you will score no points for that year.
How to send us your application
You will need to:
- complete the online application form, uploading a photo of yourself, proof of ID and proof of address
and - send your evidence to us separately by registered post or by email
If you would like to complete the entire application by post, contact us for an application form on 0300 065 3000.
You cannot hold more than one licence within the Dee Estuary cockle fishery, so make one application only.
What happens after you apply
Your application will be provisionally scored by the Dee Estuary Cockle Officer. We will contact you to tell you your provisional score.
You will have 5 working days from being notified of your provisional score to send us any further evidence.
10 working days from the date of being notified of your provisional score, we will ask you to confirm, by signature, that you have provided all relevant evidence to back up your application.
Appeals and how we assess applications
The licence allocation procedure explains the process for applying for, and being granted, a licence for the Dee Cockle Fishery Regulating order. We will use it to grant permanent, probationary and short-term, non-renewable licences and for issuing endorsements.
The document explains:
- what evidence should be included in a licence application and how many points that evidence will be worth
- how we'll process applications
- how we'll produce the licence allocation list
- an applicant's right of appeal and appeal procedure
- how we'll offer a licence
- deadlines for payment in the event a licence is offered
- how we'll assign short-term, non-renewable licences
- how the licence fee is calculated
Download the Dee cockle fishery licence allocation procedure.