catching signal crayfish

[m.durston]

hi all,
whilst i was at work today i was refilling a pay & display machine which is located next to the river ver in st albans. i happened to notice a fairly large signal crayfish at the edge of the bank in the shallows.
catching the little bugger wouldnt have been much of an issue as my colleague does it with some line and bits of spam! but after a bit of research i've found you need a licence to catch them along with permission from the landowner.
i dont think permission will be a problem as my works are in 'partnership' with the local council and i have access to the relevant people.
does anyone on here have one of these licences and how easy is it to obtain one?

 

[Mesquite]

Other people have asked the same question MD and here's one thread on the subject of getting a licence.

On another note, if you go down to Verulanium park there's loads in the river there leading up to the Fighting Cocks from the watermill. Last time I walked along there I counted at least 15 of the little beggars.

 

[m.durston]

thats exactly where i was!! cheers for the link the search engine on here is pants.

 

[Melonfish]

it does make me laugh we need a licence to fish an alien species out of our own waters. but then thats great british beaurocracy for you.

 

[gunslinger]

To catch them with meat or an old chicken carcass you do not need a licence but it is illegal to put them back.

You will need a licence however to trap them ie.with a pot or net trap.
It is nigh on impossible to get a licence , I have tried recently. They will not accept eating them as a reason to trap,you could try research as a reason but I think you would have to prove that.
I can only speak for my area as I am told all are different,however I have never met or spoken to on any forum ,anyone who has been successful in obtaining a licence.

Not very positive but that's my experience.

I agree its a total nonsense but that's England for you

GS

 

[m.durston]

gunslinger your absolutely right, i have researched this a little more and i think one of the deciding factors on issueing said licence is the area your operating in and the severity of the infestation!
apparently the river ver no longer has any native white claw crayfish as the signal crayfish have wiped them out.
its a real shame cos the river ver was so full of rubbish etc in the 80's that i only ever saw stickleback in there. now in the summer i always see trout etc.

 

[Stanleythecat]

I was talking to an ecologist at work yesterday about this. We have a load of traps for survey work so I asked whether they could be used, she said it was a good idea but you would need a license. Her main concern was that people would be able to identify the signals over the white clawed.

 

[Gwhtbushcraft]

I got a trap at the midlands game fair.. i havn't tried getting a licence (I havn't used it) but i read that another concern is that when the dominant males...often the first to be caught..are removed and the trapping is not done regulary it allows the others to surge and thrive.
George

 

[badgeringtim]

There are a few issues with trapping - several to do with other species welfare.
Many traps sold are actually illegal to use as the size of apature is to large and other non target (but protected) species can become trapped and killed in them, also there are hygene and crayfish pluage considerations as well as the basic identification.
The licence is a mechanism of keeping track of this.

So what seems to be OTT on the surface, when you understand it makes much better sence. Se the other thread here for someone who made the mistake when identifying and got signals confused with natives and ended up in court.

 

[Kerne]

OK - so I'm out fishing (with permission, licence etc.) and I dangle some meaty treat into the water and pull out some signal crayfish. Can I now safely, and without fear of conviction, cook them up and eat them? Is it that simple?

 

[tytek]

OK - so I'm out fishing (with permission, licence etc.) and I dangle some meaty treat into the water and pull out some signal crayfish. Can I now safely, and without fear of conviction, cook them up and eat them? Is it that simple?

Yep, they are very tasty!!!

 

[EdS]

the there are 2 main reasons for the licence:

1) to stop trapping of the natives. You will not get a licence for an area with a know population of natives.

2) to protect otters. With the increase in otters there has also been an increase in the number of otter drownded in traps. THe licence requires the entrance of the trap to be no more than 90mm in diametre - this size so it is too small for an otter to get its head in.

Part of the problem is due to TV prgrams and t'net telling the publci to go catch them, with out them having a clue what they are doing.

Not stupid bureaucracy but to ensure sensible control to prevent impact on other species.

In reality you are unlikely to get an EA licence for any waters north of the Trent due to populations of natives in northern rivers.

however, "rod and line" ie string and meat is fine with rod licence and land owners permission.

Or just go wit ha kids fishing rod and lift rocks - even easier, if 3 year old can catch them like that adults should be able to.


also the consensus is now that trapping unless done to remove the entire population makes the problem worse. Trapping disproptionally, removes the larger aggressive males. These are carnivorous - and the main control on the population. Removing these large males has a 2 fold impact -

1) it allows more smaller once to bread resulting an overall higher population.

2) the void left for the "alpha" males is filled by males moving in from other areas, increasing the spread of the fungal disease, that kills natives, from infected areas.

Also one of the conditions is that traps are sterilised before each use, to reduce spreading the disease and eggs.

 

[Everything Mac]

out of interest what is the penalty for trapping without a license?

 

[wattsy]

out of interest what is the penalty for trapping without a license?

they get very angry, and they write you a letter telling you how angry they are.

actually i don't know

 

[nuggets]

they get very angry, and they write you a letter telling you how angry they are.

actually i don't know

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/8618142.stm

 

[Toddy]

out of interest what is the penalty for trapping without a license?

About £50 a crayfish iirc.

cheers,
M

 

[FreddyFish]

National crayfish trapping byelaws
On 1 June 2005, the Environment Agency introduced a package of crayfish Byelaws that will allow them, under certain conditions, to approve the trapping of crayfish in England and Wales. In the past only the Thames Region of the Environment Agency had the authority to allow this activity.

The hope is that the byelaws will aid in the control non-native populations, and where appropriate, commercially exploit them. They also hope that these byelaws will go some way towards protecting the remaining native crayfish populations.

If you are thinking of trapping crayfish you should bear in mind that there are a number of conditions that need to be met. Permission to trap will be dependent on local situations, in particular the presence of the native crayfish. The EA will also take into account the possible detrimental effect that trapping could have on other species, such as protected animals like otters and water voles. Many water courses go through private properties and it will be your responsibility to obtain the permission of the landowner before you commence. You should also try and ensure that the traps are inspected every 24 hours, and disinfected after use.

You should also be aware that if you reintroduce the caught crayfish into any other waters, without the required licence, you could be liable for prosecution under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and this could result in a heavy fine.

We would strongly advise you to seek advice from your local Environment Agency Officer before you make an application.

Crayfish trapping advice packs are available from the National Fisheries Laboratory 01480 483968. Further information on these byelaws can be found on the Environment Agency website.

="http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/fisheries/freshwater/crayfish.htm#ISSUE"]
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

 

[Cledan99]

I caught some whilst fly fishing!!! they hooked on to my line and wouldn't let go the guy at the fishery trapped them (under licence) and said we were to stamp on them - this seemed a waste, so my m8 reintroduced them to other waters....


Boiling on his stove, and very nice they were too

 

[charlieh]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56130

here is another current thread on crayfish, which has several good links in it,

 

[m.durston]

hi all, well its finally happened! i sent an email well over 6 months ago to my local council regarding trapping and didnt hear anything back until today.
apparently the old boy in charge of parks etc had retired so they were working their way through the list of unaswered emails! anyways i got chatting to this guy who is now in charge and he has provisionally given me permission to trap american signal crayfish in the river and lakes down in st albans. he is going to send out a permission letter from st albans council to me in the next few days and i should (fingers crossed) be trapping in a few weeks.

i will be posting photos of my exploits in trapping these tasty little monsters in the near future.