Shellfisheries: get exclusive fishing or management rights

You can apply to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for exclusive fishing or management rights to a shellfishery.

These rights give you permission to fish, or control fishing rules:

• for specified shellfish species
• in a defined area of the sea or tidal waters
• for a specified number of years

This guidance sets out the legislative requirements for several and regulating orders. It also tells you what information we recommend you provide to support your application.  

Your application will be considered in line with the relevant legislation:

• Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967
• The Several and Regulated Fisheries (Form of Application) Regulations 1987

Check which order you need

You can apply for a:

• ‘several order’ to get exclusive fishing rights
• ‘regulating order’ to get exclusive management rights

When these rights are granted, the public could be prosecuted, issued with fines of up to £50,000 and need to compensate you in certain situations. This could include if they:

• take, disturb or injure the shellfish, or damage the shellfish beds or shellfishery covered by your several order
• contravene any restrictions or regulations in the area covered by your regulating order

Fishing rights granted by a several order

A several order gives you the exclusive right (subject to any restrictions) to dredge, fish, take or cultivate specified shellfish species within a defined area, for the purposes of stock exploitation. This might include:

• collecting, moving, removing, or depositing specified shellfish species
• creating and maintaining shellfish beds

Defra will set out the extent of your rights and any conditions you need to meet in your order.

Defra will generally grant several orders for up to 20 years.

Management rights granted by a regulating order

A regulating order gives you the exclusive right to regulate dredging, fishing, taking or cultivation of specified shellfish species within a defined area. This might include:

• issuing fishing licences
• setting rules that licence holders must follow when taking shellfish
• excluding anyone without a licence from your shellfishery

Defra may place restrictions on some actions, such as issuing licences and introducing regulations.  

Defra will generally grant regulating orders for up to 30 years.

Who can apply

Anyone can apply for a several order.

Applications for regulating orders are typically made by Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities.

Before you apply

Before you start your application, you should:

• secure landowner consent
• speak to other affected parties
• complete a marine plan policy assessment
• check if your application might impact relevant protected sites and, if so, provide relevant information to support your application
• order an Admiralty chart
• prepare a 5-year management plan

It is recommended that you also consider:

• if you need a marine licence
• if you need a marine wildlife licence
• if you need authorisation from the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI)

Secure landowner consent

You must check who owns or has rights in the area and get their written consent to use the seabed to set up or manage a shellfishery.

To identify if the land is owned by the Crown, check The Crown Estate’s Foreshore and Estuary Map.  

If the land is owned by the Crown, you should contact The Crown Estate at:

Email: enquiries@thecrownestate.co.uk

If the land is not owned by the Crown, you can find out who owns the land by either:

• contacting your local council
• searching for land and property information

Speak to other affected parties

You should consult with other people and representative bodies that the order might affect to get their support for your application.

This could include:

• people who fish in the area on a commercial or recreational basis
• other sports and recreational users, such as the Royal Yachting Association
• navigation and harbour authorities, such as Trinity House or the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• environmental stakeholders, such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
• heritage bodies, such as Historic England

Complete a marine plan policy assessment

You should complete a marine plan policy assessment before you apply. Start by identifying your area-specific marine plan and its policies using the interactive service explore marine plans.

In your marine plan policy assessment, you should explain how you consider your activity aligns with the policies of the relevant marine plan. If the activity:

• aligns with the policies, explain how
• does not align with the policies, explain why not, including any information Defra should consider when assessing your application

Check if your application might impact relevant protected sites

You should check if your activity could affect a relevant protected site. If it does, you should provide relevant information to support your application.

Relevant protected sites include:

• marine conservation zones (MCZs)
• special areas of conservation (SACs)
• special protection areas (SPAs)
• Ramsar sites
• sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs)

Use MAGIC maps to check if your activity is in or near relevant protected sites

If so, Defra will need to assess the likelihood of your activities harming the conservation objectives of the protected sites.

If we decide that your activities are high risk, we may ask you to consider changing your methods or moving location.

You should provide detailed, high-quality information to allow Defra to carry out this assessment. The specific requirements for each type of protected site are set out below.

Start by checking for advice on:

• Marine Protected Areas: conservation advice packages
• Natural England’s search for designated site details

Environmental impact assessments can be complex. You may want to consider using Natural England’s charged environmental advice service request form.

MCZs

Once you have identified one or more relevant MCZ sites, you should use the conservation advice packages to identify:

• site features
• conservation objectives
• the ‘advice on operations’

The advice on operations explains how activities create pressure, and how sensitive the designated features of MCZs are to those pressures.

If your activity is near or within one or more MCZs you should provide a document containing the following information:

• how your activities could impact the features of the MCZs
• how you’ll reduce any negative effects within your application

SACs, SPAs or Ramsar sites

If your activity could affect one or more SACs, SPAs or Ramsar sites, Defra will carry out a habitats regulations assessment (HRA) to assess your activity’s impact.

If your activity could affect one or more protected SACs, SPAs or Ramsar sites, you should provide a document containing the following information:

• the location of the project in relation to any SACs, SPAs or Ramsar sites
• the interest features and conservation objectives of each SAC, SPA or Ramsar site
• an indication of how the plan or project could affect the conservation objectives and designated features of the sites, and a description of the effects 
• the potential for in-combination effects with other plans or projects 
• any proposed mitigation measures to prevent damage to the environment and ensure there is no adverse effect on the integrity of the sites

If you have an existing HRA that covers the same activity, you may submit this with your application for Defra to use, so long as:

• it was completed by a competent authority (such as Cefas or Natural England), as defined in the guidance on habitats regulations assessments: protecting a European site
• there’s no new information or evidence that may lead to a different conclusion
• the existing assessment is relevant, thorough and correct
• the conclusions are rigorous and robust
• there’s no new case law that changes the way an HRA should be carried out or interpreted

SSSIs

If your activity could affect one or more SSSIs you should get consent from Natural England before you apply for a several or regulating order. You can find out more in the guidance on sites of special scientific interest: managing your land.

Order an Admiralty chart

You must provide 2 copies of the latest Admiralty chart of the area.

You can order a chart online. Visit the UK Hydrographic Office’s (UKHO) list of Admiralty chart distributors.

Prepare a 5-year management plan

You should prepare a 5-year management plan for your shellfishery to submit with your application. This should outline what you intend to do if you are granted an order and how it contributes to the objectives of the Fisheries Act 2020.

We recommend that you use the relevant management plan template for your application.

Consider if you need a marine licence

It is recommended that you consider if you need a marine licence for your activity.

You can use the MMO’s Marine Licensing Tool to find out if a marine licence is required or if your activity is exempt.

Consider if you need a marine wildlife licence

It is recommended that you consider if you need a marine wildlife licence if your proposed activity could impact a protected species or habitat.

You can discuss whether a marine wildlife licence is required by contacting the MMO’s Marine Conservation Team at:

conservation@marinemanagement.org.uk

Consider if you need authorisation from the Fish Health Inspectorate

Aquaculture farms require authorisation from the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI).

It is recommended that you consider if your activity will require authorisation.

You can discuss whether authorisation is required by contacting the FHI at: fhi@cefas.gov.uk

Apply for a several or regulating order

You need to fill out the form to apply for a several order or regulating order. Read the guidance on completing the application form before you start.

You must email the following documents to SRO@defra.gov.uk:

• your completed application form
• written consent from anyone who owns the land or has rights in the area where you are applying for an order
• 2 copies of the Admiralty chart

If you are a company incorporated under the Companies Act, you must also provide:

• a copy of the memorandum and articles of association
• any special resolution of the company relating to its main business activities

If you are any other type of corporate body, you must provide a copy of every relevant instrument of incorporation, charter, or local act of parliament.

You should also provide the following supporting documents which Defra will need to consider when determining the outcome of your application:

• evidence of your consultations with affected parties to support your application
• your marine plan policy assessment
• documents detailing potential impacts on MCZs, SACs, SPAs, Ramsar sites, including consent from Natural England for activity affecting any SSSIs and your existing HRA, if appropriate
• your 5-year management plan

Terms and conditions

By submitting an application to Defra, you confirm that you accept the terms and conditions.

After you apply

All applications must go through the following formal process which protects the rights of everyone that an order could affect.

Step 1: Checking your application

When Defra receives your application, we will check it is complete and includes all the required documentation. You will need to provide more information if requested.

Step 2: Getting an initial decision

Defra will then complete an initial assessment. This includes carrying out any environmental and economic assessments, reviewing all attached documentation and confirming that your application is in line with the relevant marine plan and the objectives of the Fisheries Act 2020. Defra will also consult other government departments and interested parties on your application.

The relevant minister will then decide whether to accept your application.

If they:

• refuse your application, Defra will send you a notice of rejection explaining why
• accept your application, officials will meet with you to confirm the order development process, including your role and expected timelines

If your application is accepted by the minister, it can take up to 2 years for your order to be granted.

At the point that Defra begins the initial assessment, you become responsible for the costs detailed in the ‘paying application costs’ section for Defra to develop your order.

Step 3: Order development

If your application is accepted by the minister, Defra will draft the order.

You will need to be closely involved in this step, to ensure that the order meets your needs. At the end of this step, you will be sent the draft order. 

Step 4: Consulting the public

When you receive your draft order you must advertise it, as agreed with Defra, and allow at least 31 days for comments.

It is also recommended that you send copies of your draft order to affected landowners and stakeholders at this point.

You will need to consider all comments, including any objections, and work with Defra to determine their effect on your application. This may include changing the draft order. You can work with objectors to resolve their concerns for up to 3 months.

The minister will then review the comments and decide if it is appropriate to hold an inquiry or if the order can be made. Defra will inform you of the minister’s decision.

Step 5: Holding an inquiry (if applicable)

An inquiry involves hearings where evidence is presented and examined, and the findings are summarised into a final report.

If the minister decides that an inquiry is appropriate Defra will appoint an independent inspector. You will need to pay for the inspector and associated costs of the inquiry, as well as:

• work with the inspector to organise the inquiry
• advertise it locally, as agreed with Defra
• send copies to all persons who have objected to the proposed order

Once the inquiry is complete, the minister will review the findings of the inspector’s final report and any objections or representations and decide whether to make the order.

Step 6: Laying the order

If your order does not need an inquiry, or if the minister approves your application following an inquiry, Defra will lay your order in Parliament.

Defra will send you a copy of the order. You will need to advertise, as agreed with Defra:

• that the order has been made
• the date it will come into operation

Paying application costs

You will need to pay Defra for some of the costs related to your application as they are incurred.

This includes, but may not be limited to, the costs for:

• any legal work commissioned by Defra to draft and advise on the order
• registering and laying the order in Parliament
• invoicing for any of the above costs

The legal costs associated with your application will depend on the complexity of your order and the quality of the information provided in your application.

When you apply, Defra will give you an initial estimate of the costs. This estimate may change during the application process. You will only be charged for actual costs incurred. Check the terms and conditions of chargeable activities for several and regulating orders.

You will also need to fund all your work to progress your application, this includes costs for:

• advertising your order
• holding an inquiry (if needed)
• the provision of any information necessary to support your application, such as for environmental assessments (such as HRAs)

Operating and maintaining your order

Once your order is granted, you:

• cannot change or extend it, unless you reapply
• must comply with its conditions
• must notify Defra how you plan to allocate licences for regulating orders, before you issue them
• must provide annual returns on fishery activity by 1 May each year – these should include the tonnage and value of shellfish taken
• must comply with all other relevant legislation, which may include obtaining a marine license or wildlife license

If you intend to operate an aquaculture business under your order, you will need to obtain authorisation from the FHI.

To obtain authorisation from the FHI, you should send your completed application form by email or post to:

Email: fhi@cefas.gov.uk

Telephone: 01305 206 700

You should let Defra know the outcome of your application.

It is also recommended that you update your management plan during the duration of your order to reflect any changes in how you exercise the rights provided.

You should send your annual returns to the FHI at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas): fhi@cefas.gov.uk

Get help with your application

Email: SRO@defra.gov.uk