White-clawed crayfish: licence to catch them to carry out maintenance (CL23)
Register forto use a licence to catch and relocate white-clawed crayfish for maintenance work on water bodies – and findreport outactions howtaken tounder reportthis your actions.licence.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This licence allows you to catch and relocate white-clawed crayfish (also called Atlantic stream crayfish) between 1 July and 30 September to maintain water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, ponds and canals.
You can catch white-clawed crayfish by:
- hand
- hand net
- crayfish trap (you must
alsobefore
Register
You toneed usea separate licence for any other activities.
On this page you can:
- register for a new licence
- continue your registration for another year
- report actions taken under this licence
Register with Natural England
You must register with Natural England before you can use licencethis CL23.licence.
Complete Sendthe yourregistration completedform
Complete registrationthe form (CL23a)to byregister emailfor ora postnew to:licence.
Wildlife
licensingRegister for a CL23 class licence to catch white-clawed crayfish
Natural EnglandHorizon House
Deanerywill RoadBristolBS1confirm 5AH
Emailyour wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk
Telephoneregistration 0300in 060writing. 3900
You must not carry out any licensed activities until you receive written confirmation of your registration.
You don’tdo not need to register if you have a personal survey licence.
HowUsing your licence for another year
If you plan to reportuse your licence for another year, confirm this on your submit a white-clawed crayfish CL23 class licence report of action form, when you report the actions taken under this licence.
You mustshould reportcheck yourfor any amendments to the terms and conditions of use on the latest published version of this licence.
Report actions taken usingunder this licence
You eachmust year.use Sendthe submit youra completedwhite-clawed crayfish CL23 class licence report formof (LR23)action form, to Naturalreport Englandany byactions taken under this licence. Report your action between 1 and 31 JanuaryOctober each yearyear, usingeven theif detailsyou’ve ontaken no action or did not find the form.target species.
You mustwill alsobe submitasked:
- for your licence details
- for details of any maintenance works carried out
- for the number of white-clawed crayfish
foundcaught - for details of any white-clawed crayfish caught, including the species, the ratio of male to female crayfish, and the
BiologicalpercentageRecordsofCentre.LicenceimmaturerenewalBycrayfish - for
returningdetailsyourofreportanyformhabitateachenhancementsyearprovided - if
you’veyourenewedwant to continue using yourlicence.licence for another year
You shouldmust checkalso forsend anyyour amendmentsresults to the termsLocal andRecord conditionsCentre. ofYou usecan do this by recording your results on the iRecord website or contacting your Local Record Centre.
You must send your results to the latestLocal publishedRecord versionCentre before you submit your licence return.
Submit a white-clawed crayfish CL23 class licence report of thisaction licence.
Get help
If you need help with registering for a class licence or completing your licence return form, contact enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk.
Updates to this page
-
The registration form to catch and relocate white-clawed crayfish to maintain water bodies has been replaced with a new online form. The Report your actions (LR23) form has also been replaced with a new online form, alongside details of the information needed to complete it. The date to report any actions taken under this licence has also changed. You must now report your action between 1 and 31 October each year, even if you’ve taken no action or did not find the target species.
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Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030.
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Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January to 31 December 2025. Reworded several sections to make the information clearer, including the sections on 'Registering to use this licence' and 'Recording and reporting requirements'.
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There is an update to this licence for 1 January 2024.
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Annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2023.
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Annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2022.
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Annual licence update.
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Accessible version of licence added - HTML.
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Accessible version of the licence added - HTML.
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Replaced licence registration form CL23a with updated version.
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2020
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2019. Replaced registration form with updated version.
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Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2018
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Annual licence update 2017.
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First published.
Update history
2026-08-18 11:05
The registration form to catch and relocate white-clawed crayfish to maintain water bodies has been replaced with a new online form.The Report your actions (LR23) form has also been replaced with a new online form, alongside details of the information needed to complete it.The date to report any actions taken under this licence has also changed. You must now report your action between 1 and 31 October each year, even if you’ve taken no action or did not find the target species.
2026-01-01 00:01
Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030.
2025-01-01 00:01
Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January to 31 December 2025. Reworded several sections to make the information clearer, including the sections on ‘Registering to use this licence’ and ‘Recording and reporting requirements’.
2024-01-01 00:01
There is an update to this licence for 1 January 2024.
2023-01-01 00:15
Annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2023.