Foreign Secretary David Lammy has admitted he did not have a rod licence to go fishing with JD Vance and has blamed the oversight on an "administrative error".
Lammy has written to the Environment Agency to tell them about the mistake and has bought a fishing licence.
The agency says anglers in England and Wales aged 13 or over must have a rod fishing licence to fish for freshwater species and can be fined if they do not have one.
The foreign secretary did not catch any fish when he went angling with the US vice-president at his official residence at Chevening House, Kent, last week.
The two men went carp fishing in a pond near the 17th-century house before they held talks about Gaza and other international affairs at the residence during Vance's family holiday to the UK.
