Biosecurity: check, clean, dry
Environment · Last reviewed 2026-08-14
A three-step protocol that anglers, divers and boaters are asked to follow between waters. It is short, it is not onerous, and it addresses the pathway by which recreational water users move invasive organisms.
Safety
Biosecurity and disease transfer — Can cause serious injury or death
Damp equipment, bait containers, craft and clothing carry invasive animals, plants, larvae and spores between water bodies. An established introduction alters the ecology of the receiving water permanently and cannot be reversed.
What reduces it: Check, clean and dry all equipment and craft between waters, drain every compartment that holds water before leaving a site, and never move live fish, bait or water between venues.
Worse when:
- Movement between catchments or countries
- Equipment reused the next day without time to dry fully
- Any transport of live bait, live fish or container water
CHECK, CLEAN, DRY IS A PROTOCOL RATHER THAN A THREAT DESCRIPTION, and it is worth having as its own record because the thing most likely to change behaviour is a set of steps rather than a list of consequences.
WHY IT EXISTS. Aquatic invasive organisms move between water bodies because people move them, usually without knowing. Damp equipment carries them: waders, boots, nets, keepnets, lines, bait containers, kayaks, dive gear, trailers. The organisms concerned include animals large enough to see and, more problematically, larvae, spores, eggs and cysts that are not visible at all. Some survive out of water for a considerable period in damp conditions.
THE THREE STEPS.
CHECK. Inspect equipment, clothing and craft for anything visible — plant fragments, animals, mud — paying particular attention to the places that trap material: boot treads and laces, net folds and seams, anchor wells, hull recesses, the inside of waders, and anywhere that holds water.
CLEAN. Wash off everything found, thoroughly, and preferably before leaving the site so that whatever is removed stays in the water it came from. Where a disinfectant treatment is recommended for the organisms of local concern, use it as directed. Drain every compartment that holds water.
DRY. Allow everything to dry completely before using it elsewhere. Drying is the step people skip, and for many organisms it is the most effective of the three. It also takes considerably longer than most people assume — damp material inside a boot or a net fold can remain wet for days — which is the practical argument for having a second set of equipment where somebody fishes different waters in quick succession.
WHERE IT MATTERS MOST. Moving between catchments rather than within one. Moving between countries. Moving from a water known to hold a problem organism. And any movement of live fish, bait or water, which is not a biosecurity risk to be managed but a thing to be avoided entirely and is separately controlled almost everywhere.
WHAT IT WILL NOT DO. It does not eliminate risk, and it does not address pathways other than equipment — ornamental trade, ballast water, deliberate introduction and natural spread all operate independently. It addresses the pathway that anglers and divers control, which is the reasonable ask.
AND THE ASYMMETRY IS THE ARGUMENT. The cost of following it is a few minutes and some water. The cost of an established introduction is permanent, it falls on everybody who uses that water afterwards, and it cannot be undone by any amount of subsequent care.
Where to go next
Species affected
What these connections rest on (1)
Scientific evidence — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
White-clawed crayfish
An environmental effect attached to the thing that causes it, resting on an authoritative source rather than on advocacy.
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Freshwater fisheries management in England: species status, distribution, invasive species policy and biosecurity practice.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- JNCC species and habitat conservation advice — Joint Nature Conservation Committee (Conservation authority)Relied on for: UK conservation designation and the status of protected and priority freshwater species and habitats.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Practices involved
- Kayak fishingA kayak is one of the highest-risk vectors there is: it holds water in several compartments, it is transported between catchments routinely, and it is rarely dry between sessions.
- LivebaitingLive bait, the water it is kept in and the containers it travels in are three separate pathways, and the movement of live fish is separately controlled almost everywhere.
What these connections rest on (2)
Authoritative guidance — 2 connections
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Kayak fishing
An environmental effect attached to the practice that causes it, resting on guidance and monitoring published by the responsible bodies rather than on advocacy.
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Non-native species pathways, the check-clean-dry biosecurity approach and the role of recreational water users in spread.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The structure of freshwater fisheries regulation including fish movement, bait movement and biosecurity controls.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Livebaiting
An environmental effect attached to the practice that causes it, resting on guidance and monitoring published by the responsible bodies rather than on advocacy.
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Non-native species pathways, the check-clean-dry biosecurity approach and the role of recreational water users in spread.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The structure of freshwater fisheries regulation including fish movement, bait movement and biosecurity controls.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Gear involved
- Keepnets, sacks and retaining fishA wet net carries water, organisms, eggs and pathogens between fisheries, which makes drying it a biosecurity measure rather than housekeeping — and which is why some waters require dipping.
- Wading boot solesThe reason check-clean-dry asks for DRYING rather than rinsing, stated as an object: felt holds water and organisms deep inside the fibre where a rinse does not reach, and it stays damp for days. Rubber can be confirmed dry; felt can only be scrubbed.
What these connections rest on (2)
Authoritative guidance — 2 connections
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Keepnets, sacks and retaining fish
An environmental claim attached to the equipment or arrangement that causes it, held to the authoritative standard the predicate requires.
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The pathways by which non-native species and pathogens move between waters on damp equipment, and the check-clean-dry principle developed to interrupt them.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Fisheries management including fish movement controls, disease and the biosecurity measures applied to equipment.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Wading boot soles
An environmental claim attached to the equipment that causes it, resting on published biosecurity guidance rather than on advocacy.
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The check, clean and dry guidance for anglers and the reasoning that damp equipment carries aquatic organisms between waters.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Where this applies
What these connections rest on (1)
Scientific evidence — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Iceland
An environmental claim attached to the geography where it operates, resting on published stock assessment and conservation status rather than on advocacy.
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The conservation assessment of the species and stocks concerned, with the assessment date, which is the basis for treating the pressure on them as established rather than asserted.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- ICES Advice on fishing opportunities, catch and effort — International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Stock status and the advice on which management measures for the stocks concerned are set and revised.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Related reading
- Transporting and storing a fishing kayakA kayak holds water in every scupper, hatch and compartment and is driven between catchments by road as a matter of course, which makes it one of the largest single vectors an angler owns.
- What to do with bait you did not useBait disposal and equipment cleaning are the same pathway approached from two ends, and the same three-step protocol covers the containers as well as the contents.
What these connections rest on (2)
Authoritative guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Transporting and storing a fishing kayak
An environmental claim attached to the object that causes it, held to the authoritative standard the predicate requires.
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The pathways by which non-native species and pathogens move between waters on damp equipment and craft, and the check-clean-dry principle developed to interrupt them.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Fisheries management including organism movement controls and the biosecurity measures applied to equipment.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Scientific evidence — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
What to do with bait you did not use
A mechanism edge to the biology or physiology beneath a handling practice, resting on the catch-and-release and fisheries science cited rather than on convention.
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Non-native species pathways, the check-clean-dry biosecurity approach and the role of recreational water users in spread.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The structure of freshwater fisheries regulation including fish movement, bait movement and biosecurity controls.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How this compares
What these connections rest on (1)
Scientific evidence — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Invasive species and biosecurity
Two records a reader will hold together, joined where the relationship between them is the informative part.
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Non-native species pathways, the check-clean-dry biosecurity approach and the role of recreational water users in spread.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The structure of freshwater fisheries regulation including fish movement, bait movement and biosecurity controls.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Sources for this page
- Check Clean Dry — biosecurity guidance for water users — GB Non-native Species Secretariat (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Non-native species pathways, the check-clean-dry biosecurity approach and the role of recreational water users in spread.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Environment Agency fisheries management, byelaws and rod licensing information — Environment Agency (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: The structure of freshwater fisheries management in England, including stocking consent, fish movement, biosecurity and habitat protection.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- JNCC species and habitat conservation advice — Joint Nature Conservation Committee (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Conservation status, designation, monitoring and protection of species and habitats in the United Kingdom.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.