The Food Safety (Fishery Products and Live Shellfish) (Hygiene) Regulations 1998

Direct transfers of live shellfish on local markets

20.—(1) Regulations 9, 16, 17 and 19 shall not apply to a direct transfer to a retailer or final consumer in the United Kingdom of a small quantity of—

(a) live bivalve molluscs gathered from a class A designated bivalve production area; or

(b) live echinoderms, tunicates or marine gastropods,

which are as specified in Chapter V of Schedule 2 by a coastal fisherman who is part of the direct transfers scheme.

(2) A coastal fisherman is part of the direct transfers scheme for the purposes of paragraph (1) if, prior to gathering live shellfish for the first time in any calender year in the district of a food authority, he notifies the food authority of his intention to do so and supplies them with the following information—

(a) his name, address and telephone number;

(b) the address where he keeps the equipment he uses for gathering;

(c) the intended place of landing of gathered live shellfish;

(d) the address where he intends to put the gathered live shellfish when landed;

(e) if applicable, the name, address and approval number of any dispatch or purification centre to which he intends to send live shellfish after gathering,

and if he notifies the food authority of any changes to the information originally supplied.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1) a “small quantity” means an amount which comprises part of the coastal fisherman’s annual allowance.

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (3), a coastal fisherman’s annual allowance is a total amount of not more than 25 tonnes of live shellfish in a calendar year, and although that total amount may comprise of amounts of one or more species, in that total amount the amount of any species listed in column (a) of the table below shall not exceed the maximum amount for that species mentioned in column (b) of that table—

Table

(a)	(b)
Species	Maximum amount
Cockles	25.0 tonnes
Oysters	5.0 tonnes
King Scallops	5.0 tonnes
Queen Scallops	10.0 tonnes
Mussels	20.0 tonnes
Other Live Bivalve Molluscs	10.0 tonnes
Marine Gastropods	20.0 tonnes