Commercial crayfish trapping.

[Chris Guy]

Jeez, and our clubs have to jump through hoops to have a licence granted

 

[Etienne Harvey]

It's worrying that an invasive species numbers have grown to such a degree that they can be harvested. But on the flip side I'm glad a little independent business is getting them out of the river system. They are doing more than the environmental agency are and the independent business is making a living out of it. Hopefully eating cray fish will become more popular so we can deplete more from our river systems. And as long as we keep it illegal to farm them here. I'm glad you are asking about how the cray fish are sourced.

 

[Neil Blood]

The E.A are reluctant to grant trapping licenses, or at least that used to be their position.

The thinking is that the biggest consumer of juv crayfish is adult crayfish. Remove the adults and the population explodes further!

I wouldn’t be surprised if some individuals are trapping without licenses? The E.A don’t exactly have a great record for enforcing stuff!

 

[Barry Peck]

Not sure I'd want to eat anything out of our waterways . What with frequent sewage dumps etc

 

[Chris Jones]

In some parts of the country, licences to trap crayfish are simply not granted. I've seen two reasons given. One, current thinking is that big crayfish are the biggest predators of crayfish eggs and juvenile crayfish. The second is the concern that many people can't distinguish small signal crayfish from native white claws. The second reason isn't an issue in parts of the country where white claws are no longer present.

 

[Mark Anderson]

In some parts of the country, licences to trap crayfish are simply not granted. I've seen two reasons given. One, current thinking is that big crayfish are the biggest predators of crayfish eggs and juvenile crayfish. The second is the concern that many people can't distinguish small signal crayfish from native white claws. The second reason isn't an issue in parts of the country where white claws are no longer present.

Hi men

Yes iv been told this big crays eat little crays before , on a bit of the kennet where they are still prolific 10 years later

Hatter

 

[Mark Swaby]

A local catering college was interested in using signal crayfish caught from our local river. A man that traps them and works in the river on clean up projects that was going to supply them. I was told the crayfish were tested and that was the end of them being used in any form of catering. Too contaminated to be safely consumed.

 

[Etienne Harvey]

Interesting, I didn't even think about the adults eating the young ones and eggs. And too be honest I wouldn't fancy eating from some rivers as like has been said the pollution. Seems these crayfish are very hard if not impossible to eradicate.