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.