Fish, mollusc or crustacean farm authorisation
How to apply for authorisation to set up a fish, mollusc or crustacean farm, including the application process, conditions and records you must keep.
Applies to England and Wales
Before setting up a fish, mollusc or crustacean farm (called an aquaculture production business (APB)) you must apply to the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) for authorisation.
You must also apply if you are setting up a mollusc purification centre or want to become a fish dealer.
This is required under The Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009 to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious diseases.
A full list of regulatory requirements for new APBs can be found in the:
How to apply for authorisation
- Fill in and submit the apply for authorisation for a fish, mollusc or crustacean farm form to the FHI. If you’re applying for authorisation for a mollusc farm, you will need to provide additional documents with your application form.
- The FHI will send you written confirmation with guidance on developing a biosecurity measures plan (BMP). This will also tell you if your application must undergo a statutory consultation with other government bodies (this can take up to 90 days to complete).
- An authorisation officer will arrange an inspection visit.
- During the inspection, the inspector will review your draft BMP. They will also advise you on statutory record keeping requirements and how to use FHI Online, the electronic record keeping system.
- The inspector will make a recommendation to the authorisation officer following their inspection visit.
The recommendation will either be:
- authorisation
- authorisation in principle – the FHI will continue to work with you until full authorisation is recommended
- authorisation not recommended – the FHI will tell you why
Authorisation for a mollusc farm
If you’re applying for authorisation for a mollusc farm, you must provide:
- evidence of the right to occupy all land forming part of the authorisation, or evidence of a seabed lease
- valid planning consent, or an official notification from the relevant local authority planning department that planning consent is not required
- if the proposed farm is within a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), either an official consent from Natural England or a notification that a consent is not required
- if it’s a marine site, either a marine licence or an official notification of exemption from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO)
The FHI will not be able to process your application without these documents.
Authorisation for a purification centre
If you’re applying for authorisation for a mollusc purification centre, you’ll also need to contact your local authority for approval to process shellfish for human consumption.
The Food Standards Agency sets the rules for purification centres.
Start your application
Contact the Fish Health Inspectorate
Fish Health Inspectorate
Email: fhi@cefas.gov.uk
Telephone: 01305 206 700
Out of hours: 01305 206 630
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4:30pm
Updates to this page
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Updated page to include a link to the digital version of the authorisation application form. Added information about additional supporting documents required for mollusc farm authorisation. Removed information about applying for export authorisation and moved this to the 'Exporting or moving live fish and shellfish' guidance page.
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Fixed broken links and updated contact email address.
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Updated FHI Online hyperlink.
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Updated to include hyperlink to FHI Online.
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Updated Biosecurity Measures Plan link.
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Updated out of hours office number,
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Text amended to include the Aquatic Animal Health (England and Wales) Regulations 2009 statement.
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Guidance page up-dated and streamlined for ease of use - links updated
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Changes to include the new requirements for export authorisation.
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Added link to SEAFISH Aquaculture Regulatory Toolbox for England.
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Added a section on the need for some applications to undergo statutory consultations.
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First published.