Introduce or keep non-native fish and shellfish
Apply for a licence to introduce, keep or farm non-native fish, lobsters and crayfish.
Applies to England and Wales
It’s an offence to introduce and keep controlled non-native fish or shellfish without a licence.
If you introduce and keep non-native fish or shellfish without a licence you could get a fine and a criminal record
When you need a licence
You need a licence to:
- introduce non-native fish into inland waters
- farm non-native species (or those not found locally)
- keep or introduce controlled non-native species of:
- freshwater fish
- crayfish
- lobsters
You also need permission to:
- move fish from or to an inland water (fishery, rivers, canals, drains and stillwaters)
- trap crayfish in the wild
- import live fish and shellfish
You may need more than 1 licence or permission before you can introduce and keep the fish or shellfish.
All licences and permissions are free.
You may also need a permit to allow certain activities for species covered by the requirements of the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation.
You can apply for a permit or a licence from Natural England (NE) for England or Natural Resources Wales (NRW) for Wales.
Permit to introduce and keep non-native fish in inland waters
You must get a permit to introduce and keep non-native fish in inland waters (fisheries, canals, rivers, managed lakes, etc). To obtain a permit in England you will need to contact the Environment Agency (EA) and for a permit in Wales you will need to contact NRW.
Authorisation to farm non-native fish and shellfish
To farm non-native fish or shellfish, or those not found locally, you need to apply for a permit to introduce keep and farm.
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ASR permit application AW1 application form
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ASR permit as required by Alien Species Regulations
You must also apply for authorisation to farm Fish, shellfish or crustacean farm authorisation
Licence to keep non-native freshwater fish (ILFA Licence)
Get a licence to introduce and keep controlled non-native freshwater fish (not for farms or inland waters)
Application to introduce and keep non-native fish
The legislation (ILFA fish licence)
When you don’t need an ILFA licence
You don’t need a licence to keep:
- common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
- goldfish (Carassius auratus)
- ide or orfe (Leuciscus idus)
- rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, other than anadromous steelhead)
You don’t need a licence to keep the following species in ornamental wholesale and retail premises, indoor aquariums or garden ponds (discrete bodies of water no bigger than an acre, on private residential premises with no risk of fish escaping into the wild):
- grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
- sturgeon (Acipenser and Huso)
You don’t need a licence to keep certain species in an indoor aquarium or if kept for ornamental (including trade, zoos and public aquariums), scientific research or conservation purposes.
Licence to introduce and keep non-native crayfish
If you wish to introduce hold, keep or sell any of the crayfish species listed below you will need to contact NE for England and NRW for Wales to get a licence:
- signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus)
- spiny cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus)
- red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)
- virile crayfish (Orconectes virilis)
- marbled crayfish (Procambarus fallax f. virginalis (Procambarus virginalis)
To introduce and keep any other species of crayfish, please apply to the FHI using form CRAY2
The legislation ILFA crayfish licence
When you don’t need a crayfish licence
You don’t need a licence to keep:
- native or white clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes)
- red-clawed crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) in indoor aquaria for ornamental use
You need a licence from NE in England and from NRW in Wales to take white clawed crayfish.
Licence to introduce and keep non-native lobsters
Apply for a lobster deposit licence
Application to introduce and keep non-native lobsters (lobster deposit licence)
You need a lobster deposit licence to introduce and keep the following types of lobster within 1 mile of tidal waters:
- American or Canadian lobster (Homarus americanus)
- European lobster (Homarus gammarus) (when kept with American or Canadian lobsters)
The order Lobster deposit
Permission to move fish to or from a fishery
If you want to introduce any fish or fish spawn into an inland water, you need a permit from the EA. To get this your fish may have to pass a health check.
Import live fish or shellfish
You need permission to import live fish and shellfish from the FHI.
Contact
Fish Health Inspectorate
Email: fhi@cefas.gov.uk
Telephone: 01305 206 700
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4:30pm
Environment Agency
Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Telephone: 0370 850 6506
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Natural England
Email:enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 060 3900
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm
Find out about call charges
Natural Resources Wales
Email:enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 065 3000
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Find out about call charges
Last updated 17 August 2023 + show all updates
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Updated contact email address.
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Updated ILFA. Aquarium Ornamentals. Alphabetic checklist for BIPs V6 06.04.2023
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Page updated with current legislation links.
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Removed out of date fax number.
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Significant updates to include Wales - Natural Resource Wales links.
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Added a link for the CRAY2 application form
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Update the requirement to contact Natural England for a licence for non native crayfish.
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ILFA, Aquarium, Ornamentals, Alphabetic checklist has been reviewed and updated.
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The new version of the ILFA list has been updated.
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Added link to permit application for moving or using species covered by the EU regulation 1143/2014 on invasive alien species.
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Added information about the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulation.
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Updated list of freshwater fish that can be kept for ornamental, scientific research or conservation purposes
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Update to reflect new legislation
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Amended permitted species list to add several genera, and to take account of recent nomenclature changes. No species have been removed.
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First published.