# The Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Live Fish (Specified Species) (England) Order 2014

S.I. 2014/143 · made 23 January 2014 · revised to 17 February 2014

Article 2(1) prohibits the keeping or release in England, without a licence issued under the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 (“the Act”), of any species of live non-native fish belonging to the taxonomic orders listed in the table in Part 1 of the Schedule.

Made under: Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 (Section 1)

PDFs: Printed copy https://openlegislation.uk/prohibition-of-keeping-or-release-of-live-fish-specified-species-england-order-2014/pdf/uksi_20140143_en.pdf; UK Explanatory Memorandum https://openlegislation.uk/prohibition-of-keeping-or-release-of-live-fish-specified-species-england-order-2014/pdf/uksiem_20140143_en.pdf

## Introductory text

River, England
Salmon And Freshwater Fisheries
Made 23rd January 2014
Laid before Parliament 27th January 2014
Coming into force 17th February 2014
The Secretary of State has, in accordance with section 1(2) of the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 consulted Natural England and the Natural Resources Body for Wales and such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate, and is of the opinion that the species of live fish to which this Order applies might compete with, displace, prey on or harm the habitat of certain species of freshwater fish, shellfish or salmon in England and Wales.
The Secretary of State makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 1(1) of that Act, now exercisable by him.

## 1 Title, commencement and application

(1) This Order—
(a) may be cited as the Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Live Fish (Specified Species) (England) Order 2014;
(b) comes into force on 17th February 2014; and
(c) applies in relation to England.
(2) This Order does not apply in relation to the introduction of any live fish by a person who has been—
(a) issued with a permit under Council Regulation (EC) No. 708/2007 concerning use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture, or
(b) served with a notice under regulation 7(2)(b) or (3)(b) (notices permitting movement) of the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.
(3) This Order does not apply to the keeping or release of live fish in inland waters

## 1A Interpretation

In this Order—
“freshwater fish” means any fish living in, or able to live in, fresh water;
“inland waters” means any water of a kind specified in section 221 of the Water Resources Act 1991 except that it does not include—
(a)the River Tweed, or
(b)garden ponds less than 0.4 hectares in area, which are not fished, have no links to other waters and are located within the curtilage of a residential property

## 2 Prohibition of keeping or release of specified fish or eggs

(1) No person may, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Secretary of State, keep or release any live freshwater fish, or the live eggs of any freshwater fish, which—
(a) belongs to a taxonomic order specified in the first column of the table in Part 1 of the Schedule; and
(b) is not native to England and Wales
(2) The requirement for a licence in paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to any species of non-native fish that is specified in the third column of the table in Part 2 of the Schedule and belongs to a taxonomic order referred to in paragraph (1).

## 3 Review

(1) The Secretary of State must from time to time—
(a) carry out a review of regulation 2;
(b) set out the conclusions of the review in a report; and
(c) publish the report.
(2) The report must in particular—
(a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory scheme established by regulation 2;
(b) assess the extent to which those objective are achieved; and
(c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate and, if so, the extent to which they could be achieved with a system that imposes less regulation.
(3) The first report under this regulation must be published before the end of the period of five years beginning with the day on which this Order comes into force.
(4) Reports under this regulation are afterwards to be published at intervals not exceeding five years.

## 4 Revocations

The following are revoked—
(a) the Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Live Fish (Specified Species) Order 1998;
(b) the Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Live Fish (Specified Species) (Amendment) (England) Order 2003; and
(c) regulation 29 of the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.

## Signature

George Eustice
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

## Schedule: List of Fish

## 1 Taxonomic orders to which any species of freshwater fish that is not native to England and Wales belongs that may not be kept or released without a licence

Taxonomic Order
Common name
Acipenseriformes
Sturgeons, Paddlefish
Amiiformes
Bowfin
Anguilliformes
Eels
Atheriniformes
Silversides
Batrachoidiformes
Toadfish
Beloniformes
Needlefish, Flyingfish
Ceratodontiformes
Lungfish
Characiformes
Tetras, Characins, Headstanders
Clupeiformes
Herrings, Anchovies, Shads
Cypriniformes
Carps, Loaches, Minnows
Cyprinodontiformes
Killifish, Pupfish
Esociformes
Pike
Gasterosteiformes
Sticklebacks
Gonorynchiformes
Shellears
Gymnotiformes
Knifefish
Lepidosyreniformes
South American and African Lungfish
Lepisosteiformes
Gar or Garpike
Myliobatiformes
Stingrays
Osmeriformes
Smelt, Noodlefish
Osteoglossiformes
Arapaima, Bonytongues
Perciformes
Perches, Butterflyfish, Cichlids, Tunas
Percopsiformes
Trout-Perch, Cavefish
Petromyzontiformes
Lampreys
Pleuronectiformes
Flounders and Sole
Polypteriformes
Bichirs
Salmoniformes
Salmon, Trout, Whitefish
Scorpaeniformes
Scorpionfish, Sculpins
Siluriformes
Catfish
Synbranchiformes
Spiny Eels
Syngnathiformes
Pipefish, Seahorses
Tetraodontiformes
Pufferfish

## 2 Species of fish that are not native to England and Wales that may be kept or released without a licence

Taxonomic Order
Common name
Species name
Cypriniformes
Common carp and its variants
Cyprinus carpio
Goldfish and its variants
Carassius auratus
Ide or Orfe
Leuciscus idus
Salmoniformes
Rainbow Trout other than Anadromous Steelhead
Oncorhynchus mykiss other than Anadromous Steelhead

## Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)
Article 2(1) prohibits the keeping or release in England, without a licence issued under the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 (“the Act”), of any species of live non-native fish belonging to the taxonomic orders listed in the table in Part 1 of the Schedule.
These Regulations do not apply where a person holds a permit for the introduction of those fish under Council Regulation (EC) No. 708/2007 concerning use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture or has been served with a notice permitting movement in relation to those fish under the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/2292) (article 1(2)). The prohibition in article 2(1) does not apply in relation to fish listed in the table in Part 2 of the Schedule (article 2(2)).
It is an offence under section 3 of the Act for any person to keep or release any of the species of fish listed in Part 1 of the Schedule to this Order without a valid licence. Section 3 also makes it an offence to contravene the terms of a licence. A person who breaches the offences in section 3 is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
The effect of the revocations made by regulation 4 is that the Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Live Fish (Specified Species) Order 1998, and regulation 29 of the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, will continue to apply in Wales.
Regulation 3 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of regulation 2 and publish a report within 5 years of the coming into force of this Order and within every five years of that. A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available on the Defra website at www.gov.uk and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/143 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/prohibition-of-keeping-or-release-of-live-fish-specified-species-england-order-2014
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.

