Signal Crayfish

[Fighterfish]

A local river nearby has a real problem with them. I know it sound sbad but we put them to good use by catching them and eating them.
They kill all our local waterlife and plants.
Here they are being washed.

Thanks,
Luke
P.S - No flaming. I just thought some of you might be interested .

 

[severum boy]

A local river nearby has a real problem with them. I know it sound sbad but we put them to good use by catching them and eating them.
They kill all our local waterlife and plants.
Here they are being washed.

Thanks,
Luke
P.S - No flaming. I just thought some of you might be interested .

Your doing the right thing, aliens like these need to have their numbers desimated. Tasty too!

 

[Fighterfish]

Sure are. Great with a bit of butter. They're a delicacie in St Albans.

 

[K.J.]

Alls well that tastes well

 

[OohFeeshy]

I'd love to get hold of some of the blighters, look delish. Plenty of meat on them too, and free

 

[Fighterfish]

Bit to far fro mme to get you some me and my mate spend whle days at the river catching them. There are also some massive brown trout which i hope to catch on friday. I finish school at 12:30 due to end of term. Should catch a few hopefully.

 

[paul_219]

Awful but looks disgusting Yuk.

 

[GuppyDude]

Crayfish are alien to the UK?

Yes, they are definately a treat. Butter...

 

[nurglespuss]

Siganl Crayfish are an introduced alien from America.

They bring a fungus ith them which is deadly to our native white claw cray fish.

Also, you need a license to remove ANY crayfish from British waters.

 

[severum boy]

Siganl Crayfish are an introduced alien from America.

They bring a fungus ith them which is deadly to our native white claw cray fish.

Also, you need a license to remove ANY crayfish from British waters.

No you dont. You can keep Signals anywhere that they have established large feral populations.
Quote from DEFRA website:

In addition to the 1981 Act, further legal controls on the keeping of non-native crayfish were introduced in 1996. The Prohibition of Keeping of Live Fish (Crayfish) Order 1996 was made under the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 this legislation makes it an offence to keep any crayfish in England and Wales, except under licence, an exception being the keeping of signal crayfish in those parts of England where extensive populations existed before the Order was introduced and such stringent controls were deemed inappropriate.

Having a further look around the website shows that infact most of the UK is able to keep Signals.

 

[nurglespuss]

In addition to the 1981 Act, further legal controls on the keeping of non-native crayfish were introduced in 1996. The Prohibition of Keeping of Live Fish (Crayfish) Order 1996 was made under the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 this legislation makes it an offence to keep any crayfish in England and Wales, except under licence, an exception being the keeping of signal crayfish in those parts of England where extensive populations existed before the Order was introduced and such stringent controls were deemed inappropriate.

Ahhhh I live in wales

 

[severum boy]

Im not sure if the rules are any different to be honest, il have a look and report back. It does seem pretty silly not to allow someone to keep a cray when there are huge feral populations in the wild.
I do know that you have to go through a different process to get a crayfish license in Wales.

Edit: double post.

 

[severum boy]

Just had a look, and some areas in the North of England cant keep them, whilst some areas close to the border in North Wales can keep Signals.
But as you live in the south, this doesent matter.

 

[nurglespuss]

Yes they are different :> I'm a biologist, and part of my research includes Signals.

The DEFRA legislation you quote was introduced for commecial stocking.

Its illegal for petshops to sell them, and its is also (as I said) illegal to remove crayfish from British waters without license, excepting signals, which of course you can only remove if you can identify, before you can identify them however, you have to be qualified.....

 

[severum boy]

Yes they are different :> I'm a biologist, and part of my research includes Signals.

The DEFRA legislation you quote was introduced for commecial stocking.

Its illegal for petshops to sell them, and its is also (as I said) illegal to remove crayfish from British waters without license, excepting signals, which of course you can only remove if you can identify, before you can identify them however, you have to be qualified.....

Yes, but chances are that almost all of the crayfish in the central south are Signals so you dont need to be an expert, just need to know that where your looking is the correct place for signals.
But do you actually have to be qualified to be able to identify Signals or can anyone do it?