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Posted in this forum as well as living of land,(technically trapping),trying to do things the correct way trapping crayfish on the river Rother Yorkshire so I applied for a permit,this was the reply from the environment agency,obviously in my experience of a very long life trapping  various vermin and pleasure fishing as well,there logic for refusing a permit don't go down well imo,no wonder there taking over almost all British waterways no one can touch them up north around Yorkshire? 

 

Dear applicant

Thank you for your application to trap signal crayfish. Unfortunately on this occasion we must decline your application.

Yorkshire and its surrounding counties do not allow crayfish trapping due to risks associated with the activity.

The three main reasons for this decision are....

  • The risk of spreading invasive crayfish and aquatic diseases through the use of traps and other equipment.

 

Traps and associated equipment are excellent vectors for invasive crayfish and aquatic diseases to reach new waters. As they are usually left unattended underwater, they can be taken by uninformed or malicious parties and used between waters easily by people who are unaware of the bio-security risks.

 

  • Impacts on our native White-clawed crayfish populations

 

In Yorkshire we are lucky to still have populations of White-clawed crayfish and despite intense conservation efforts the species is still under threat.

 

Signal crayfish can carry a disease which is fatal to our native White-clawed crayfish. This crayfish plague is spread by a fungus which can wipe out a population in a matter of weeks.

 

There is also the risk of misidentification of species. Although crayfish can be distinctive, it is sometimes not as easy as it seems to identify species correctly.

 

  • Trapping crayfish is often not an effective method of control and often leads to an increase in populations

 

Research has shown that trapping signal crayfish targets the dominant males, this removes the top predator from within the signal crayfish population. This allows younger less dominant males to breed more prolifically, leading to a population expansion. Trapping is therefore often counterproductive.

 

Edited by goldfinger
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Crumbs, I have my license and tags but I'm not in Yorkshire.  I know several people round my way with their paperwork, no problems here at all.

One of the reasons we may not have a problem is we have all the invaders, natives seem to have all but gone, I actually caught a Signal on hook/line when fishing conventionally for Carp on Monday!

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Probably got to wait for the critters until they completely infest the Eco system, by then to late,any responsible person presume they are if applying for a permit would abide by the rules and do there homework on identification of native species.

A good thing there not so keen with Mink.Still find it hard why they so against them being removed by responsible persons,or is it they assume we are all irresponsible. 

All I understand you keep catching nets full and eventually the population decreases or kept at low level.

Just wonder what the Environment Agency plans are to combat this infestation?,maybe I should ask under the freedom of information rule ?

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Blimey, I've had a licence for 7 or 8 years now and never no bother.

 

However, I have heard of a few folk been responsible for spreading them into places they Were not, by carelessness, so I do kind of see that point.

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20 minutes ago, goldfinger said:

Controlling Mink, a good thing they are no so keen on preventing catching Mink in waterways, I trap them on a national trust site that has Otters and provided I follow there rules were all happy.

A get ya now. With regards crayfish. Do you have to show where your located, and specify certain waterways within said area? No way around that?

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8 hours ago, EDDIE B said:

A get ya now. With regards crayfish. Do you have to show where your located, and specify certain waterways within said area? No way around that?

You have to be very specific where you are trapping the Crayfish and the licence only covers that area, I understand this is to make sure you only trap areas where natives no longer exist.

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We don't have the red claws over here. The natives are fairly plentiful. Drag in a lot whilst fishing. Heard recently that this plague has hit one major river system which has wiped everything out. If it hits the Shannon, then that could be the end for the creyfish

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2 hours ago, EDDIE B said:

We don't have the red claws over here. The natives are fairly plentiful. Drag in a lot whilst fishing. Heard recently that this plague has hit one major river system which has wiped everything out. If it hits the Shannon, then that could be the end for the creyfish

Eddie I was talking to a lad a couple of weeks ago regarding the Zebra Mussel and a few other things. I mentioned that I sometimes envy the Brits being able to catch so many Signal Crayfish so easily but it's probably a good thing they're not in Ireland. He reckons they're already here in a few rivers.

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50 minutes ago, neil cooney said:

Eddie I was talking to a lad a couple of weeks ago regarding the Zebra Mussel and a few other things. I mentioned that I sometimes envy the Brits being able to catch so many Signal Crayfish so easily but it's probably a good thing they're not in Ireland. He reckons they're already here in a few rivers.

Could be true. Maybe that's how this plague thing got here? They say it is being speed from one waterway to another by anglers equipment, waders, boats etc 

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One mans loss is another’s gain, would anybody really shed tears if native crayfish were wiped out ?......the signals are good to eat and although it’s reported they take a lot of eggs/fry the fish also predate on them and grow bigger as a result.....

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Got a map from Environment Agency witch is copy righted so cannot put it up here outlining were you can catch Crayfish with there permission,basically anything North of Stock on Trent is a no go area,were south of  Stock on Trent is for the odd part you are OK to catch with there  permission.

Got to agree with what you say bell, only a matter of time before they totally infest all waterways.

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