1998 No. 2409

RIVER, ENGLAND AND WALESSALMON AND FRESHWATER FISHERIES

The Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Live Fish (Specified Species) Order 1998

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2)

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in relation to England, and the Secretary of State for Wales, in relation to Wales, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 1(1) of the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 19801 and all other powers enabling them in that behalf; and, in accordance with section 1(2) of the Act, after consultation with the Nature Conservancy Council for England and the Countryside Council for Wales and such other persons as the Minister and the Secretary of State consider appropriate; and being 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 any freshwater fish, shellfish or salmon in England and Wales, hereby make the following Order:

Citation, commencement and extent1

1

This Order may be cited as the Prohibition of Keeping or Release of Live Fish (Specified Species) Order 1998 and shall extend to England and Wales.

2

This Order shall come into force–

a

in relation to fish first kept before 1st November 1998, on 1st May 1999; and

b

in relation to fish first kept or released on or after 1st November 1998, on that date.

Prohibition of keeping or release of specified fish2

No person shall keep or release in any part of England and Wales any live fish of the species specified in the Schedule to this Order, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Minister.

Elliot MorleyParliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Jon Owen JonesParliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office

SCHEDULESPECIES OF FISH WHOSE KEEPING OR RELEASE IN ANY PART OF ENGLAND AND WALES IS PROHIBITED EXCEPT UNDER AUTHORITY OF A LICENCE GRANTED BY THE MINISTER

Article 2

COMMON NAME

SCIENTIFIC NAME

American brook trout

Salvelinus fontinalis

Asp

Aspius aspius

Big-head carp

Aristicthys nobilis

Bitterling

Rhodeus sericeus

Blageon

Leuciscus souffia

Blue bream

Abramis ballerus

Burbot

Lota lota

Catfish

species of the genera Ictalurus and Silurus

Chinese black or snail-eating carp

Mylopharyngodon piceus

Danubian bleak

Chalcalburnus chalcoides

Grass carp

Ctenopharyngodon idella

Landlocked salmon

non-anadromous varieties of the species Salmo salar

Large-mouthed black bass

Micropterus salmoides

Mediterranean barbel

Barbus meridionalis

Nase

Chondrostoma nasus

Pacific salmon and trout (excluding rainbow trout but including steelheads)

species of the genus Oncorhynchus

Paddlefish

species of the genera Polyodon and Psepherus

Pike-perch (including zander)

species of the genus Stizostedion

Pumpkinseed

Lepomis gibbosus

Rock bass

Ambloplites rupestris

Schneider

Alburnoides bipunctatus

Silver carp

Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Sturgeon or sterlet

species of the genera Acipenser, Huso, Pseudoscaphirhynchus and Scaphirhynchus

Topmouth gudgeon

Pseudorasbora parva

Toxostome (or French nase)

Chondrostoma toxostoma

Vimba

Vimba vimba

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, which is made under section 1 of the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 (“the Act”), and which comes into force, in relation to fish first kept before 1st November 1998, on 1st May 1999 and, in relation to all other fish, on 1st November 1998, prohibits the keeping or release in England and Wales of any species of fish specified in the Schedule to the Order, except under authority of a licence granted by the Minister.

Section 3 of the Act provides that any person who keeps or releases any of the species of fish listed in the Schedule to this Order without a valid licence or who contravenes the terms of a licence shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in relation to this Order and deposited in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from:

Fisheries Division IIB

(Aquaculture, Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries)

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Room 308, Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London SW1P 3JR.