Fish and shellfish farming business registration
The Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) maintains the Fish and Shellfish Business register on behalf of Defra and NAWAD. The FHI administration team provides advice to prospective farmers and collates applications. A Fish Health Inspector will then visit the site prior to registration.
The Registration of Fish Farming and Shellfish Farming Businesses Order 1985 requires all fish and shellfish farming businesses to submit details for registration within two months of commencing business. The information is required specifically to help control the introduction and spread of disease throughout the industry and into wild stocks.
You do not need to register a farm until it is operational.
What is the definition of farming?
We register farms and farming businesses in 3 different categories, namely:
- Fish Farming
- Saltwater Shellfish Farming
- Freshwater Shellfish Farming
Fish Farming – "the keeping of live fish with a view to their sale or transfer to other waters". Only enterprises where the primary purpose is the sale or transfer of fish are regarded as carrying on the business of fish farming.
Saltwater Shellfish Farming – "the cultivation or propagation of shellfish (whether in marine or inland waters or on land) with a view to their sale or transfer to other waters or land". It follows that saltwater shellfish farming is the cultivation or propagation of shellfish in saltwater e.g. oysters, mussels, clams, scallops or lobsters.
- Explanatory Leaflet on Registration of a Saltwater Shellfish Farming Business - Form FB2B (PDF, 72 KB)
- Form to register a Saltwater Shellfish Farming Business - FB 2
- Form to register a Saltwater Shellfish Farming Site (one needed for each site) - FB 2A (PDF, 20 KB)
- Guidance notes on the completion of registration forms - FB2C (PDF, 43 KB)
Freshwater Shellfish Farming - "the cultivation or propagation of shellfish (whether in marine or inland waters or on land) with a view to their sale or transfer to other waters or land". It follows that freshwater shellfish farming is the cultivation or propagation of shellfish in freshwater e.g. crayfish or freshwater mussels.
- Explanatory leaflet on Registration of a Freshwater Shellfish Farming Business- Form FB3B
- Form to register a Freshwater Shellfish Farming Business - FB 3 (PDF, 40 KB)
- Form to register a Freshwater Shellfish Farming Site (one needed for each site) - FB 3A (PDF, 31 KB)
- Guidance notes on the completion of registration forms - FB3C (PDF, 46 KB)
Where should you send the completed registration forms and seek further information about registration?
For businesses in England and Wales
For businesses in Scotland
What happens next?
Under ‘Our Code of Practice and Customer Charter’ we aim to inspect your site(s), subject to your availability, within twenty working days of your application being received. On receipt your application will be assigned to one of our fish health inspectors who will contact you to arrange a mutually agreeable time for your pre-registration visit.
On arrival at your site they will:
- make a visual inspection of your stock and site
- talk through the activities carried out on site and your plans for the future,
- check the details on your application,
- take copies of any Section 30 consents or invoices as evidence of trading,
- take some photographs for our files and draw a site plan.
On return to the laboratory the inspector will submit a report covering all topics discussed during the visit including site plan etc to the relevant senior inspector for approval. A member of our administrative team will then write to you within ten working days of the visit with the outcome.
If your application is unsuccessful, what happens?
We will inform you by post stating the reason why. You are free to re-apply once you feel your farming activities meet our criteria. You should continue to operate your site in accordance with the relevant legislation, especially where netting and stocking consents are necessary.
If your application is successful, what happens?
We will inform you by post and enclose a printout of the entry that has been made on the Fish Health Database for checking. This will include your registration number and details of which holding facilities have been included in the registration. You will also be issued with a book to record all movements of fish to and from the site.
Once you are a registered business, what does the future hold?
Your site will be entered into our rolling program of site inspection and sampling. The frequency of these visits and requirements for sampling will be dependent on the species held and the pattern of trade from the site. Most farm sites are inspected annually and sampled less frequently.
At each inspection an inspector will:
- Check the historic records we hold and gather new information for your site/ business.
- Inspect your movement record book.
The movement record book issued at the time of registration shows what data we legally require and how we would prefer the information recorded. We recommend their use, although equivalent information may be stored in an alternative, easily accessible format e.g. on computer. The records must be readily accessible to our inspector, ideally on the site to which they relate. The inspector may need to take a copy and our books have self-carbonating pages for this purpose. The records must be retained for four years, after which they can be destroyed. All movements must be recorded including those involving other sites belonging to your own business. The records should be updated within 24 hours of the movement.
- Check your medicine and mortality records
Within the movement books are pages designed for use when recording mortalities on site. These pages have the same headings as the movement records and should be completed on a regular basis, as appropriate to your site’s size and activities. You are also required to keep and have available for inspection details of all medicines administered on your site(s). We currently recommend that you keep a diary, table or spreadsheet with details such as – what treatment was used, which ponds / tanks were treated, date and dose administered, withdrawal period.
- Make a visual inspection of your site and stock
You'll be advised at the time the inspection is booked, whether a routine sample is required from the farm in addition to the visual inspection. If an inspector observes signs of disease then they will explain what they suspect and take a sample. For more information please see Disease Monitoring and Investigation.
After a visit, what can you expect?
Following a site visit the inspector will write to you within ten working days, as required under the Inspectorate's Citizens Charter confirming any conclusions resulting from discussions during the visit. If the inspector took a sample they will inform you of the results within five working days of them becoming available, also as agreed under our Citizens Charter.
If you have any problems between visits our inspectors and administrative team are available to answer your queries.
What happens to the information you supply?
It is all held in confidence. There are strict rules governing the release of the information obtained in the course of our duties. We can only release it in the following three circumstances:
- With your consent
- In the form of summary information obtained from a number of sites
- For the purpose of criminal proceedings
If your details change what should you do?
You should notify us of any changes to your farm site or business (except to species held) within one month of this occurring. Changes requiring notification can include:
- Sale of the site
- Purchase of an additional site
- Ceasing farming on a site
- Excavation of additional ponds or lake
- Building of additional facilities
- Change of business or postal address
- Change of contact name
If the only change is to the species held, then we do not need to be informed until we inspect the site.
What if you do not comply with the registration and / or record keeping requirements?
It is an offence under the Diseases of Fish Act 1983 not to comply with the registration and record keeping requirements, to provide false information or to compile false movement records. It is also an offence to obstruct an inspector during the conduct of his work. The penalty for these offences is a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale (£2500 at July 2000).
