The Secretary of State must assign a United Kingdom fleet register (UKFR) number to any fishing vessel which enters in the United Kingdom fleet for the first time.

The UKFR number must not be altered during the period in which the fishing vessel belongs to the United Kingdom fleet.

The UKFR number must not be reassigned to another vessel. If a fishing vessel is exported outside the United Kingdom and re-imported back into the United Kingdom, the fishing vessel must be reassigned the same UKFR number.