Welcome to the Aquaculture Toolbox Licensing Process

This is a general framework that producers, regulators and other stakeholders can use to support decision-making for planning and regulation of freshwater and marine aquaculture in Europe. It provides a broad overview of the main steps and outlines approaches that can be used to provide information to support license applications and decisions. The process starts at Location, which includes guidance and tools for site selection. Subsequent steps provide guidance and tools that can be used to identify suitable licenses and assess potential impacts as part of a licence application. The final step, Compliance, suggests approaches for monitoring impacts and environmental conditions post-consent.

The Aquaculture Toolbox Licensing Process has been designed to accommodate a range of users with different needs and expertise. For each individual user there will be some areas that are more relevant than others.

You can go through the process sequentially from Step 1 (Location) to Step 8 (Compliance), or you can select the section you are most interested in and use the information that is most relevant.

Each step focuses on a particular part of the licensing process which may or may not be relevant for a particular country or type of aquaculture.

Some of the content may be intended for the prospective applicants (producers, consultants, industry representatives) and decision makers (regulators and licensing authorities)

Text and recommendations with a dark grey background are aimed at regulators and licensing authorities. This can be used by regulators and licensing authorities to set-up or revise a licensing process. Some sections will be more relevant than others depending on experience and the status and maturity of the aquaculture sector in a given country.

To facilitate the process, we recommend regulatory authorities appoint an Aquaculture Liaison Officer who would provide guidance and be the primary contact throughout the licensing process.

Text and recommendations with a blue background are aimed at the prospective applicant (producers, consultants and industry representatives). Producers must follow the licensing process that has been established for a particular jurisdiction, but the process here provides a general guide about effort and resources required, as well as some of the issues that may be encountered. Some sections will be more relevant than others depending on experience and the status and maturity of the aquaculture sector in a given country.

To facilitate the process, we recommend prospective applicants, or their representative, contacts the regulatory authority in advance of an application to ensure all requirements are met.

Aquaculture Toolbox Licensing Process

The content and recommendations in the Aquaculture Toolbox Licensing Process are for guidance. Each step focuses on a particular part of the licensing process which may or may not be relevant for a particular country or type of aquaculture.

When applying for a license you must follow the regulatory requirements of the area.

Please use the links below to access relevant information for individual countries.