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FWPM surveys, technical reports and mitigation plans are required for development projects that could affect FWPM and their habitats, as part of getting planning permission or a mitigation licence.
Population declines for FWPM have been caused by factors such as pearl-fishing, pollution, acidification, organic enrichment, siltation, river engineering, and declining salmonid stocks. FWPM’s re now a rare species whose conservation is giving rise to concern, and its increasing rarity in mainland Europe gives extra significance to UK populations.
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When are FWPM Surveys Required?
Survey Information
Surveys for freshwater pearl mussels normally involve carefully and systematically walking stretches of river using a clear-bottomed bucket to look for animals on the river bed. If carried out correctly this should be able to identify presence or absence of the species. Sometimes, if it is necessary to do so, and in order to get a better idea on the health of a particular population of pearl mussels, individuals can be carefully lifted from the river bed and measured in order to ascertain the approximate age of the animals.
Survey for FWPM requires a licence from the appropriate statutory nature conservation organisation.
Population declines for FWPM have been caused by factors such as pearl-fishing, pollution, acidification, organic enrichment, siltation, river engineering, and declining salmonid stocks. FWPM’s re now a rare species whose conservation is giving rise to concern, and its increasing rarity in mainland Europe gives extra significance to UK populations.
FWPM surveys, technical reports and mitigation plans are required for development projects that could affect FWPM and their habitats, as part of getting planning permission or a mitigation licence.
Why Choose Ellendale Environmental
As with all protected species, survey licenses are only granted to experienced and appropriately trained individuals. Ellendale Environmental ecologists are licensed to undertake surveys for FWPM and have the experience and expertise to undertake surveys on all scale of projects. We are able to design and implement mitigation appropriate to your project following the relevant good practice guidelines.
Your development will be in safe hands with our experts at Ellendale Environmental who will work alongside you to ensure that your development is compliant with the law which will minimise disruption to your project. We are able to ensure this through extensive searches of the surrounding area being conducted for the presence of freshwater pearl mussel. If freshwater pearl mussels are present we work collectively to ensure the development process is not hindered whilst protecting the species through implementing appropriate mitigation and compensation measures
Freshwater pearl mussel is listed on Annexes II and IV of the EC Habitats Directive and Appendix II of the Bern Convention and is fully protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended, 1998 to section 9[1]). It is also listed as a priority species on the UKBAP.
Freshwater Pearl Mussel Legislation
Full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 means that it is an offence to;
intentionally or recklessly kill, injure or take (capture) a freshwater pearl mussel; or
damage, destroy or obstruct access to the resting place of a freshwater pearl mussel.
This legislation means that freshwater pearl mussel is fully protected and that any planned activity, which may affect them, requires prior consultation with the appropriate statutory nature conservation organisation.
No licensing procedure under UK legislation exists for permitting derogation of any disturbance to a freshwater pearl mussel or destruction of its place of resting for development purposes.
Freshwater Pearl Mussel - Find Out More
The freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera grows to 140 mm in length, and burrows into sandy substrates, often between boulders and pebbles, in fast-flowing rivers and streams. It requires cool, well-oxygenated soft water free of pollution or turbidity. The mussel spends its larval, or glochidial, stage attached to the gills of salmonid fishes. The larvae attach themselves during mid to late summer and drop off the following spring to settle in the riverbed gravel where they grow to adulthood.
The fresh water pearl mussel was formerly widespread throughout western and northern parts of Great Britain. However, England and Wales are each now believed to support only a single recruiting population. In Northern Ireland the species formerly occurred widely in several catchments, but is now restricted to a few sites. Many UK rivers now contain only scattered individuals, with no juvenile mussels recorded; such populations may become extinct due to lack of recruitment. Despite serious declines in both range and total population, Scotland is the remaining European stronghold for pearl mussel, supporting functional populations in over 50 rivers, mainly in the Highlands.