American Signal Crayfish Invasion

[Rusty]

Countryfile tonight had an interesting closing article about a group breeding white clawed crayfish and introducing them to a signal free river, the water had natural barriers preventing signals from getting there. Nice to see but it sidestepped the fundamental issue.…how do we get rid of the little buggers?

 

Or indeed are we happy to create havens for our native species whilst other signal infested waters produce bigger chub and perch whilst also keeping the local otter population well fed? Might be a small price to pay for not being able to deadbait or use boilies anywhere.

[cannibalspinners]

Do they thrive in cold water, Like a bitter scottish winter ?

[Chris Plumb]

Do they thrive in cold water, Like a bitter scottish winter ?

Native of America's West Coast - Washington, Oregon, and into Canada - just like Scotland - only colder in winter! ;-)

 

C.

[jack1432]

Haha oh yes, plenty of them on the Blythe, cole, and other small midland rivers. But as Ken L said I have never caught one on the Severn or the Avon

[Tigger]

Do they thrive in cold water, Like a bitter scottish winter ?

 

 

They've infested Loch Ken.

[cannibalspinners]

Loch ken is an hour or so from the tweed catchment area , I think they could be everywhere by now ,

Its interesting to here of people telling which rivers they know them to be in countrywide.

 

 

Do they have Powerful claws like lobsters , In other words can they give you a good nip

[lutra]

They've infested Loch Ken.

Not sure what steps are or have been taken to try and get rid or reduce the crayfish numbers in loch ken, but one keen piker I work with was telling me only last week that he had been up there this year fishing dead baits and wasn't getting bothered by them.

[Tigger]

Not sure what steps are or have been taken to try and get rid or reduce the crayfish numbers in loch ken, but one keen piker I work with was telling me only last week that he had been up there this year fishing dead baits and wasn't getting bothered by them.

 

That's good news. I would imagine they're still there, maybe the piker just dropped in a spot they don't like so much. I don't think there are any steps they can take to reduce them other than trapping. Since they were brought into the country for the catering trade and had to be farmed you'd think they's harvest them on a commercial scale and sell/ship them worldwide.

 

Cannible, put some in a washing up bowl, put your foot in and wiggle your toes

[Anderoo]

Oxfordshire is absolutely riddled with them. A lot of the stillwaters are still OK (surprisingly, perhaps) but the Thames and its tributaries/sidestreams are all full of them. They are less of a headache in colder water, but even in winter they can be a pain sometimes.

 

The Thames itself seems to cope OK with them, the river is healthy and full of fish of all species, some of which are growing very big because of the crays, and the banks are not being eroded. Other rivers are suffering with poor fry recruitment and bank erosion, but to be honest I think they would be in poor shape even without the crays...but the crays have made it worse.

 

Once you've got them, you've got them. Short of poisoning the whole waterway I can't think of a way to even dent their numbers. Licensed trappers take out literally tons of them, and it makes no difference.

 

Any yes, they grow pretty big and have powerful pincers!

[chesters1]

Countryfile tonight had an interesting closing article about a group breeding white clawed crayfish and introducing them to a signal free river, the water had natural barriers preventing signals from getting there. Nice to see but it sidestepped the fundamental issue.how do we get rid of the little buggers?

 

Or indeed are we happy to create havens for our native species whilst other signal infested waters produce bigger chub and perch whilst also keeping the local otter population well fed? Might be a small price to pay for not being able to deadbait or use boilies anywhere.

I often wonder who researches countryfile ,why no questions about the fact crays can merely walk around obstructions