Control and enforcement of sea and coastal fisheries
The content of this page has been checked on 4 November 2026
Together with external supervisors, we ensure that fishers comply with the European and national fishery laws and regulations. Certain violations are classified as serious infringements. For these infringements, infringement points can be assigned. These points can affect your fishing license, your ability to function as a master of a fishing vessel or your subsidy (application).
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New serious infringements
Since 10 January 2026, there are 30 serious infringements in the Council Regulation instead of 12. New ones have been added, others have been separated into multiple different serious infringements. Therefore, there are now 2 categories: infringements that are always considered serious, and infringements that under circumstances are considered serious. You can find all serious infringements under Grounds for points. For more information, read the background of this change.
On-site inspections
Supervisors conduct on-site inspections to determine whether fishers comply with fishery laws and regulations. Supervisors can be, for example, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) and the Wadden Unit. They may visit you for an inspection, which includes boarding your vessel.
Consequences of violations
Do the supervisors suspect something is amiss? Then they have the ability of enforcement through administrative and criminal procedures. The NVWA can refer cases to us for administrative enforcement. This can include notifying your government of any infringements you make. Your government may decide to take legal action against you, based on our notification. This includes serious infringements on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
We can also enforce the restoration of a specific situation. For instance, has someone placed illegal nets? Then that person must remove these nets within a specific period. Failure to comply may result in a fine or the removal of the nets at the offender’s expense.
In addition, the NVWA or the Wadden Unit can pursue criminal enforcement for the same violation, potentially leading to prosecution.
Points for infringements
Does the NVWA suspect that the fisher has violated the rules of the CFP? Then this can be deemed a serious infringement, for which points are assigned. This may affect your license, the possibility to function as a master of a fishing vessel and/or your subsidies.
These points are the same everywhere within the European Union (EU). This way, the same rules apply to all European fishers.
Grounds for points
There are 2 infringement categories:
- Infringements that are always considered serious.
- Infringements that under circumstances are considered serious.
You can receive a maximum of 12 points per inspection.
Serious infringements (always considered as such)
In the table, you can find the 16 infringements that are always considered serious.
| Letter in regulation | Serious infringement | Number of points |
|---|---|---|
| a | Fishing without a valid licence, authorisation or other permit. | 7 points |
| b | Falsifying or hiding markings, identity or registration of a fishing vessel. | 5 points |
| c | Hiding, tampering with, or disposing of evidence relating to an investigation. | 5 points |
| d | Obstructing the work of officials or observers in the exercise of their duties. | 7 points |
| e | Transhipping without the required authorisation or where this is prohibited. | 7 points |
| f | Conducting transfer operations or caging of fish where this is prohibited. | 5 points |
| g | Transhipping from or to vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU vessels). Or participating in joint fishing operations with these vessels. These are vessels that fish illegally. You are not allowed to support or supply these vessels. | 7 points |
| h | Being involved with a company that is connected to a vessel listed in the IUU vessel list of the EU. For example as owner or manager. These are vessels that fish illegally. You are not allowed to supply services, such as logistic or insurance services. | 7 points |
| i | Fishing in restricted areas. | 6 points |
| j | Fishing for, catching, retaining on board, transhipping, landing, storing, selling, displaying or offering for sale certain species. It concerns species for which this is not permitted by law. | 7 points |
| k | Fishing without quota, after the quota is exhausted, or fishing for species for which a (temporary) fishing ban applies. | 7 points |
| l | Use or possession of a fishing vessel without nationality. | No points |
| m | Using prohibited fishing gear or methods. | 7 points |
| n | Falsifying documents, information or data which you should keep according to the CFP. | 5 points |
| o | Manipulating an engine or device with which you monitor the continuous engine power. This ensures that the vessel's power exceeds the maximum continuous power. This power is stated on the engine certificate. | 6 points |
| p | Conducting fishing activities with the use of forced labour. | 7 points |
Explanation infringement l
You cannot receive points for infringement l, because the vessel is not registered as a fishing vessel. However, it is a serious infringement of the CFP.
Infringements that under circumstances are considered serious
There are 14 infringements that can be considered serious. This is the case if you meet one or more conditions for the infringement. Each infringement has its own conditions. You will receive the number of points if we assess the infringement as serious. You can find the conditions in Annex IV of the Control regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009).
| Letter in regulation | Infringement | Number of points (if serious) |
|---|---|---|
| a | Using falsified or invalid documents, information or data which you should keep according to the CFP. | 5 points |
| b | Not sending logbooks or reports. For example, weighing records, sales notes and transport documents. This also applies to data which should be sent via vessel monitoring systems. | 3 points |
| c | The difference between the estimated and the actual quantity of caught fish is more than the permitted margin of tolerance. | 3 points |
| d |
|
4 points |
| e | Not bringing and retaining on board species subject to the landing obligation. This also applies to juvenile fish. | 5 points |
| f | Carrying out fishing activities in an area falling under a regional fisheries management organisation. It concerns activities that are not permitted under the conservation and management measures of that organisation. | 5 points |
| g | Selling fishery or aquaculture products when this is not permitted under the rules of the CFP. | No points |
| h | Recreational fishing that is not permitted under the rules of the fisheries policy. Or the sale of products caught for recreational purposes. | No points |
| i | Committing multiple infringements of the rules of the CFP. It concerns infringements that are not considered as serious themselves. | 5 points |
| j | Transhipping to or participating in joint fishing operations with IUU-vessels. These are vessels that fish illegally. You are not allowed to support or supply these vessels. It concerns vessels that carry out IUU-fishery but are not listed on the IUU vessel list of the EU or on a list of a regional fisheries management organisation. | 5 points |
| k | Using a higher engine power than is registered in the fishing fleet register. | 5 points |
| l | Landing in ports of third countries without sending a message in your logbook. | 5 points |
| m | Doing business directly connected to illegal fishing (IUU fishing). For example, trade in, import or process fishery products connected to IUU-fishing. | No points |
| n | Illegally disposing of fishing gear or gear at sea. | 5 points |
Explanation infringements g, h and m
You cannot receive points for infringements G, H and M. For example because the offender is not a permit holder or master of the vessel, or because the vessel is not registered. These remain serious violations of the CFP if you meet the criteria.
What happens when you receive points?
Did you receive points? Then that can have consequences for your license, your functioning as the master of a fishing vessel, or your subsidy (application).
Consequences for license holders
Consequences for license holders
Upon reaching 18 points or more, your fishing license will be suspended or revoked. You are then prohibited from fishing. The duration depends on the number of points you have accumulated.
| Number of points | Consequences for your fishing licence |
|---|---|
| 18 points | 2 months suspension |
| 36 points | 4 months suspension |
| 54 points | 8 months suspension |
| 72 points | 1 year suspension |
| 90 points | Permanent withdrawal |
Consequences for masters
Consequences for masters
Are you the master of a fishing vessel, and do you have 18 points or more? You are then prohibited from functioning as the master of a fishing vessel. The number of points that you have received determines how long this applies.
| Number of points | Consequences for your fishing licence |
|---|---|
| 18 points | 2 months |
| 36 points | 4 months |
| 54 points | 8 months |
| 72 points | 1 year |
| 90 points | 3 years |
Consequences of points for subsidies
Consequences of points for subsidies
Apply for a subsidy with infringement points
If you have points assigned, it could mean you are ineligible for European subsidies. Have you committed a serious infringement? Then your application is inadmissible for at least a year. For some serious infringements, this rule does not apply. In that case, inadmissibility starts at 9 points. You can read which serious infringements this applies to at EMFAF: Uitsluiting van subsidie (in Dutch). There, you can also read more on how points (might) affect your subsidies.
Receiving infringement points after a subsidy
Have you received a subsidy from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF, or EFMZV in Dutch) or the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF)? And have you received points? Then your subsidy may be affected up to 5 years after you have received these. You can read more about this at EMFAF: Uitsluiting van subsidie (in Dutch) and Europees Fonds voor Maritieme Zaken en Visserij (EFMZV) (in Dutch).
0 points after 3 years
Have you committed no new serious infringements 3 years after your last serious infringement on the CFP? Then your points will be set to 0 again. Have you committed a serious infringement within those 3 years? Then you get points again. Those new points will be added to the points that you already have. The 3-year runtime will reset for all points.
Transfer or sale of a vessel with points
It is possible to transfer or sell a vessel with points. You are obligated to inform the new owner of the vessel’s points and how long the infringement points remain valid. The new owner takes the vessel together with the assigned points.
In the event of new serious infringements, we do not consider who committed the previous infringements. If the new owner receives points, we add these to the total of points already assigned to the vessel.
The 3-year period without serious infringement continues to run for the new owner.
Example
You purchase a vessel with 12 points. Before these points expire, you commit a serious infringement and receive 7 points. You then have 19 points in total: your fishing license is suspended for 2 months. You can find the consequences of points for subsidies on EMFAF: Uitsluiting van subsidie (in Dutch) and Europees Fonds voor Maritieme Zaken en Visserij (EFMZV) (in Dutch).
Infringement points in another country
Do you commit an infringement in another country? Then, that country assesses and handles the infringement. If you committed a serious infringement, that country forwards this information to the government of the country where your vessel is registered.
As of January 10, 2026, we will no longer assess whether your infringement is considered a serious infringement under the Policy Rule. If that country considers it a serious infringement, you will usually receive infringement points for it.
Number of points
Do you sail under the Dutch flag and do you want to know how many points you have? Send an email to vr@rvo.nl. We register the number of points for Dutch vessels. For other vessels, please contact your relevant government agency.
Background of the change
The European rules for serious infringements have changed as of 10 January 2026. The classification of serious infringements is now fully contained in the amended Control regulation. With this, the classification and assessment of serious infringements across all member states of the European Union is now the same. This ensures a level playing field for all fishers. However, this also means that there is little national discretion in making the assessment. For example, in cases of special circumstances and (dis)proportionality.
Would you like to know more?
You can find more information about infringement points, control and enforcement in the:
- Control regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009) (the infringements and conditions are listed in Article 90, Annex III and IV)
- Implementing regulation (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011)
- Delegated regulation (EU) 2025/1766
- Implementing regulation (EU) 2025/2196
- IUU Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008) (Articles 3 and 42)
Do you want to know more about inadmissibility from EMFAF subsidies? You can read more about this in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1139. You will find an exclusion table in Annex I of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2181.
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