Can I keep temperate freshwater fish in an outside pond?

With recent hot summers we have seen stories shared on social media that show temperate fish like White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Japanese rice fish being put into outside water features.

However, this is illegal behaviour and we would ask businesses not to share content that encourages this.

It’s important that our industry acts responsibly because the vast majority of ornamental fish imported into the UK are not native. There is also a potential biosecurity risk that imported fish might carry pathogens that we do not want to enter UK waterways. This is why there are controls over how ornamental freshwater fish can enter and be kept within the UK.

Such controls require licences to be in place to permit the keeping of certain non-native species.  To maintain that control the Government has granted through the Import of Live Fish Act what’s called general licences to keep ornamental freshwater fish. This general licence then puts certain conditions on how those ornamental freshwater fish can be kept. (Ornamental marine fish are also granted a general licence under  ILFA).

This general licence is automatic – you don’t need to apply for it.

There is a general licence in place that allows for grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and sturgeon (Acipenser and Huso  to be kept in: ornamental wholesale and retail premises, indoor aquariums and garden ponds (defined as discrete bodies of water, no bigger than an acre, on private residential premises with no risk of fish escaping into the wild). This way, any biosecurity risk posed by ornamental freshwater fish is managed because they are always kept in a closed system (a pond or tank) with no access to native waterways.

There is no licence requirement requirement for the following fish to be kept outside in a garden pond:

• common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
• goldfish (Carassius auratus)
• ide or orfe (Leuciscus idus)
• rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, other than anadromous steelhead)

There is also a general licence that allows other freshwater fish detailed on a permitted species list to be kept in an indoor aquarium ONLY. That includes temperate fish and it’s why fish like mountain minnows or Japanese rice fish cannot be kept in patio ponds or garden features outside.

You can check which freshwater fish are allowed to kept in indoor aquariums on the Gov.uk site (go to the Licence to introduce and keep non-native freshwater fish (ILFA licence) section and download the Freshwater fish that can be kept for ornamental, scientific research or conservation purposes excel spreadsheet).