The Prohibition of Keeping of Live Fish (Crayfish) Order 1996

Made: 15th April 1996

Laid before Parliament: 17th April 1996

Coming into force: 29th May 1996

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 1980[^f00001] and all other enabling powers 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, extent and interpretation

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Prohibition of Keeping of Live Fish (Crayfish) Order 1996, shall come into force on 29 May 1996 and shall extend to England and Wales.

• (2) In this Order “crayfish” means a freshwater decapod crustacean of the Families Astacidae, Cambaridae or Parastacidae, other than the species Austropotamobius pallipes (commonly known as the Atlantic stream, or white clawed, crayfish).

Prohibition of keeping of crayfish

2

• (1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, no person shall keep any live crayfish, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Minister.

• (2) The prohibition specified in paragraph (1) above shall not apply to crayfish of the species Pacifastacus leniusculus (commonly known as the signal crayfish) kept within those parts of England and Wales which are within the postcode areas set out in column 1 (and described in column 2), as read with column 3, of the Schedule to this Order.

SCHEDULE — PARTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES IN WHICH NO LICENCE IS REQUIRED TO KEEP CRAYFISH OF THE SPECIES PACIFASTACUS LENIUSCULUS

Signed

Tony Baldry — Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food — 10th April 1996

Rod Richards — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office — 15th April 1996

Explanatory note

(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 on 29 May 1996, prohibits, subject to an exception, the keeping in England and Wales of any species of crayfish other than the native species, opotamobius pallipes except under authority of a licence granted by the Minister. There is an exception to the prohibition in respect of crayfish of the species stacus leniusculus(signal crayfish) which are kept within those parts of England and Wales which are described by reference to postal districts in the Schedule to the Order.

Section 3 of the Act provides that any person who keeps nonnative crayfish 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 compliance cost assessment has been prepared in relation to this Order and deposited in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from:

Salmon Whaling and Inland Fisheries Division Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Room 606, Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1980 c. 27; section 1(2) was amended by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 4), section 132(1)(a) and Schedule 9, paragraph 8; section 1(3) was amended by the Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 24), section 37(2); see section 4 for definitions of “the Minister” , “fish” and “shellfish” .