Your Site Permit Explained: What You Can Stock Before You Order

Permits can be confusing. Here’s a quick guide to how they work, and what to check before you order, so your fish aren’t held up.

Please note: this guide is only relevant if you have registered waters and an Environment Agency (EA) site permit. If you don’t need a site permit, you don’t need to do anything.

We’ve noticed that some orders include species that aren’t actually covered by the customer’s site permit, which means we have to put those orders on hold. Permits can be confusing, so we’ve put together a quick guide to how they work and what to check before you order.

The Role of Annex 2 (keeping fish)

Annex 2 lists native and naturalised species such as brown trout, perch, pike, roach and tench that are exempt from non-native fish keeping controls. The purpose of this exemption is to make clear that, provided a valid Site Permit is in place, these species can be kept in those waters without separate, species-specific keeping conditions being added to the permit.

Why this exists: It draws a clear distinction between these common native or naturalised species and fish that require specific non-native keeping controls, allowing the Site Permit to focus those additional controls where they are actually needed.

Fish Introductions

Keeping vs introducing: Having the right to keep a species under Annex 2 does not automatically grant the right to introduce stock. If native or naturalised fish listed in Annex 2 are already present in the lake, you are legally permitted to keep them and maintain them there without any special non-native keeping conditions.

The key rule: The key rule is that you cannot add or introduce any new stock of those species into the lake unless that specific species is explicitly listed under the Fish Introductions section of your EA Site Permit.

If you ever need to introduce a species that is not currently listed under the introduction section of your permit, you simply need to apply to the EA for a permit variation.

Our advice: ask for everything you might want

When you speak to your EA officer, ask for every species you may want in the future to be added to the Fish Introductions section of your permit. Approval comes down to your officer and any risk factors for your site, such as flooding. Asking once now saves you going back each time you restock.

Before you order

1. Check that every species in your basket is listed in the Fish Introductions section of your site permit.
2. If something isn’t listed, apply to the EA for a permit variation before ordering.
3. Have a copy of your full site permit, including all pages, ready to send us. We can’t accept the permit number on its own.

What if I’ve already ordered?

If your order includes a species that isn’t on your permit, we’ll be in touch. We’re happy to hold your order while you check with the EA, or we can cancel it and give you a full refund, whichever you prefer.

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