Fish farming concessions are mainly in the east and south east of the Island's intertidal and subtidal zone, due to the favourable topography and weather conditions. There is also a subtidal concession in St Aubin's Bay.
Report a disease
Notify us immediately
If you suspect that a fish or shellfish has a notifiable disease you're legally required to call the States Veterinary Officer on +44 (0) 1534 441600.
You must notify us immedicately because notifiable diseases can be passed to people or have significant economic impacts.
List of notifiable diseases for fish, shellfish and crustacea
Jersey has a high health status for fish, mollusc and crustacean diseases.
If you suspect disease immediately call +44 (0) 1534 441600.
Links for the diseases below are from World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
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Fish diseases |
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 Epizootic haematopoietic necrosis | Rainbow trout and redfin perch | Declared free
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Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) | Herring, whitefish, pike, haddock, Pacific cod, Atlantic cod, Pacific salmon, rainbow trout, rockling, brown trout, turbot, sprat, grayling and olive flounder
| Declared free
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Infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN) | Chum salmon, coho salmon, masu salmon, rainbow or steelhead trout, sockeye salmon, pink salmon, chinook salmon and Atlantic salmon | Declared free
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Koi herpes virus (KHV) disease | Common carp and koi carp | Undetermined but last confirmed case in 2016 |
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Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) in respect of infection with genotype HPR-deleted of the genus Isavirus (ISAV) | Rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon, brown and sea trout | Declared free
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Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) | Family: Salmonidae | Declared free
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Infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) | Rainbow trout, brook trout, brown trout, Atlantic salmon and whitefish | Declared free
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Infection with gyrodactylus salaris | Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, Arctic char, North American brook trout, grayling, North American lake trout and brown trout | Declared free
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Spring viraemia in carp (SVC) | Bighead carp, goldfish, crucian carp, grass carp, common carp and koi carp, silver carp, sheatfish and tench, orfe | Declared free
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Mollusc diseases
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Infection with Bonamia exitiosa | Australian mud oyster and Chilean flat oyster | Declared free
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Infection with Bonamia ostreae | Australian mud oyster, Chilean flat oyster, Olympia flat oyster, Asiatic oyster, European flat oyster, Argentinian oyster | Eradication programme and last confirmed case in 2020
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Infection with Marteilia refringens | Australian mud oyster, Chilean flat oyster, European flat oyster, Argentinian oyster, Blue mussel and Mediterranean mussel | Declared free
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Infection with Microcytos mackini | Pacific oyster, Eastern oyster, Olympia flat oyster, European flat oyster | Declared free
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Infection with Perkinsus marinus | Pacific oyster and Eastern oyster | Declared free
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Crustacean diseases |
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Taura syndrome | Gulf white shrimp, Pacific blue shrimp and Pacific white shrimp | Declared free
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Yellowhead disease | Gulf brown shrimp, Gulf pink shrimp, Gulf white shrimp, Pacific blue shrimp, Kuruma prawn, black tiger shrimp, Pacific white shrimp | Declared free
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White spot disease | All decapod crustaceans (order Decapoda) | Undetermined
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Ostreid herpesvirus 1 µvar (OsHV-1 µvar)
Ostreid herpesvirus 1 µvar is not a notifiable disease in Jersey.
The Island is not recognised as free for Ostreid herpesvirus 1 µvar. Although known or suspected increased mortality has occurred or is occurring in aquaculture animals has to be reported.
Disease investigation and control
The Animal Health and Welfare team is responsible for investigating and controlling diseases.
If we suspect a listed or emerging disease we’ll:
- make an Initial Designation Notice. This is to prevent further spread of disease from the affected area. It will restrict movements of fish or shellfish and apply extra biosecurity measures if required. These notices are not made public
- carry out a disease investigation which includes collecting samples to test for the disease. Depending on the tests required it can take 14 days or more to receive the results from the laboratory. We’ll advise the site operator on what to expect and keep them informed of progress
If the tests are negative and listed or emerging disease is ruled out, we’ll lift the Initial Designation Notice.
If a listed disease is confirmed we’ll:
- make a Confirmed Designation Notice This is a legal order restricting movements of aquatic animals into, out of and within the affected area to prevent or limit the spread of the disease from the affected area. The notice will be published on gov.je and signs may be put up in the affected area to inform the public
- if needed, put further controls in place to restrict:
- vehicle and equipment movements
- site activities such as disposal of waste
- any other activity that could spread the disease
- if needed, put extra biosecurity measures in place such as use of on-site equipment disinfection
- investigate where the disease came from and whether it has spread. We’ll put controls on sites where the disease could have spread from or to, to prevent or limit further spread. For example, when fish or shellfish have been moved or there are water and equipment connections. These sites are also investigated on suspicion of listed disease
We can lift the Confirmed Designation Notice only when we’re satisfied that the disease is no longer present in the affected area. This can include that we:
- supervise the stock cull, site clearance and disinfection
- complete satisfactory monitoring and retest programme which can be up to 4 years. Any re-occurrence of the disease during that period means the programme must be restarted
Prevent the introduction and spread of listed diseases
Prevention is the best approach to disease control.
To protect fish and shellfish:
- be vigilant about stock health and husbandry
- follow strict biosecurity practices. All authorised aquaculture production business must follow an approved biosecurity measures plan. Find further guidance on
Biosecurity Measure Plans on GOV.UK
- follow the regulatory requirements. This includes making sure your business is registered with us or authorised and importing stock only under a licence issued by the animal health and welfare team
- know the health status of the animals you buy or move
- quickly report any health concerns to the
animal health and welfare team, including suspicion of listed disease in fish and shellfish
Current outbreaks of notifiable diseases
If a notifiable disease is confirmed, Natural Environment (NE) puts controls in place to limit the spread of disease or eraditate it. These are known as confirmed designations.
A confirmed designation was made for the shellfish Bonamia ostreae on 6 March 2020.
Notice of confirmed designation for Bonamia ostreae
If your fish or shellfish are in a confirmed designation, you must:
- comply with any conditions issued by NE
- get written permission from NE to move fish or shellfish and equipment. Allow at least 5 working days for us to process your request
New concessions
Natural Environment is responsible for administration and control of the fish farming industry. As crown land is used by the industry it is necessary to ensure wide and comprehensive consultation before a new concession is granted. Those consulted include:
- the Fisheries and Marine Resources Panel
- Jersey Harbours
- the Natural Environment section of the Department of the Environment
- members of the public
Fish farm licence application form
Marine shellfish farming
The Pacific Oyster, 'crassostrea gigas', currently forms the backbone of the industry with production equalling 3 quarters of the total production in the UK.
Other species being farmed or have previously been farmed are:
- the mussel, 'mytilus edulis'
- the scallop, 'pecten maximus'
- the ormer, 'haliotis tuberculata'
Marine fin fish farming
The only marine fin fish currently farmed is the turbot, 'scophthalmus maximus', at St Catherine’s.
Importation of stock
The Island has a high disease free status which means that any stock imported into Jersey must conform to strict rules to help protect this status and the export trade of the Jersey aquaculture industry.
Email States Veterinary Officer for further information and to apply for an import licence.
You must complete the online notification form a minimum of 1 working day prior to scheduled arrival into Jersey.
Pre-notification of regulated animal, plant and food goods
Aquaculture production businesses (APB)
Under EU Legislation (Aquatic Animal Health) (Jersey) Regulations 2016, all APBs must be authorised by the Minister for the Environment. APBs normally include the following:
- finfish farms
- shellfish farms
- crustacean farms
You can download documents from the Public Register of Authorised Aquaculture Production Businesses:
Finfish farmers and importers
Shellfish farmers and importers (1)
Shellfish farmers and importers (2)
Importers of ornamental fish
It's an offence to operate an aquaculture production business without valid authorisation.
Shellfish monitoring
To ensure food safety is monitored in accordance with EU legislation, the Department of the Environment funds and carries out sampling programmes of Jersey's farmed shellfish harvesting industry.
Classification of shellfish harvesting areas
The production areas for bivalve molluscs in Jersey are detailed below. These are controlled by Annex II of Regulation 854/2004.
Classification of bivalve molluscs production areas in Jersey 2023 to 2024
Sanitary surveys
Under EU regulations an assessment of sources of pollution must be undertaken and a sampling plan established for all new shellfish harvesting areas.
Jersey offshore scallops sanitary survey
Shellfish harvesting areas: sanitary survey
Classified areas scallops map
Extension of the La Hurel bivalve mollusc production area 2015
Extension of the La Hurel main bed north and south bivalve mollusc production areas 2017
Biotoxin monitoring
Information relating to official control biotoxin testing of live bivalve molluscs within classified areas in Jersey.
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2023
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2022
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2021
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2020
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2019
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2018
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2017
Live bivalve molluscs biotoxin monitoring results 2016
Phytoplankton monitoring
This is carried out by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) on behalf of the Department of the Environment.
Water samples are collected from designated shellfish growing areas. They are then analysed, by light microscopy, for various species of phytoplankton.
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2023
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2022
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2021
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2020
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2019
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2018
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2017
Water toxic algae monitoring results 2016
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