Red Signal Crayfish are considered a delicacy. They were originally bought here from America and several crayfish farms were established to satisfy the growing demand for crayfish tails. It is thought that crays entered our waters via these farms after flood water washed eggs and fry into adjoining rivers. Some crays were, and probably still are, illegally transported to other waters so their range is rapidly increasing. Bullies, putting our White Clawed Crays at serious risk The problem with Red Signal Crayfish, apart from their bait robbing activity is that they are bullies who push out our own rare White Clawed Crayfish, and even worse, they carry a virus, which is extremely virulent and to which, our own cray has no resistance. The American invaders are virtually immune to it so they are not affected. The virus is transferred on nets and tackle and is easily spread. Sadly, the White Clawed Crayfish is now considered seriously at risk of becoming extinct in the UK. So, what are we doing to control red signal crayfish and conserve our own indigenous species? Sadly, not much! Some time ago there were reports in many national newspapers of a ‘scientific breakthrough’ involving crayfish pheromones. Pheromones are scents, which attract and induce crays to breed, and have been produced to lure crays into traps. The Environment Agency, in a fit of publicity, was going to use this sexual attractant in order to lure randy crays into lobster pots. It made good headlines at the time but, as many of us already know, you don’t need expensive scientific sexual attractants to lure a cray into a trap. You just need food, and a cheap can of fishy cat food, punctured to release the scent is about as scientific as we ever need to get. Believe me, a can of Whiskers lowered into a drop net will catch you dozens of crays in just a few minutes on some waters…… so I am told! A license to frustration I thought I would try and do my bit to reduce the cray population on the waters that I fish. First off, I found out that you have to have approval to trap the little blighters and that I needed a licence from The Environment Agency. I rang them and spoke to a very nice man. He confirmed that a licence was indeed necessary and that he would send the relevant forms. Nothing happened for two weeks. I rang again. Same thing. Then I rang again. Still no forms. I emailed the man in charge of issuing licences. No reply. I rang again. I emailed again. Eventually, after much heartache and haranguing, I managed to get a form faxed to me. The form (Form FR2) is the Application To Use Fishing Instruments (other than rod and line) and/or Remove Fish From Inland Waters. And what a load of nonsense it turned out to be. You have to give details of the location in which you are to set your trap, using national grid references or supply a map. You have to tell them what equipment you are going to use. You have to tell them the size of the water, in hectares or acres. You have to get written consent from the fishery owner and any controlling club. You have to tell them whether or not you intend to remove any crays that you catch (Err?) and you have to state the total number of crays that you intend to remove, along with their length, weight and total weight of the catch. Finally, you have to tell them the DAY that you intend to set your trap. That’s right. The licence is for just ONE DAY ONLY! Meanwhile the invading population grows apace and even more of our White Clawed Crayfish die off. Naturally, I didn’t submit the form. I accept that we need effective controls and probably some form of licensing, but Form FR2 exists not only to trap crays but for anyone wishing to set a trap for salmon and eels. It’s of no practical use at all for anyone wishing to help out on the crayfish front. Unfortunately, this kind of senseless logic is rife throughout un-elected bodies such as the EA. Red tape and bull designed simply to keep someone occupied. So all of this made me look a bit more closely at what the bureaucrats up at the Environmental Agency are actually doing for us anglers with our licence fees and the rest of their £ 650 million pound annual expenditure. What does the EA actually do for us? According to their web site, they have a Statutory Duty to maintain the entire environment: air, land and water. They collect some of the incurred costs by issuing licences for water abstraction and waste management, flood defences, etc. They also get a government grant of some 28% of their overall budget and they get a lot of cash from the issuing of boat licences. Despite not returning phone calls or answering emails, they collect something like 60 million pounds each year from us anglers. Sixty million pounds each year would buy an awful lot of coarse fishing and would help control the crayfish problem, but it’s painfully evident that very little of this money is being spent on us. “So, what” I hear you say, “So what does the Environment Agency actually do for us anglers”? And that’s a pretty good starting point. Evidence is hard to see. We get a silly little magazine with a few pretty pictures of newts and frogs occasionally, and apart from installing a few salmon runs on the Thames, (paid for by coarse anglers who are then charged another £ 61.25 for an additional licence and the privilege to fish for salmon) that, it would seem, is about it. The real issues facing anglers are about conservation and the fight against the anti’s. The E.A seem more than happy to collect the licence fee but they’re not very active in supporting the war on either front. “In the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975, the Agency has a specific duty to maintain, improve and develop eel fisheries”. That’s a statement from the EA web site. (Presumably they wouldn’t have put it in there if they didn’t recognise the specific duty contained within the act to conserve eel stocks). That Act was passed nearly THIRTY YEARS AGO! “The Agency has a duty to enhance biodiversity and have regard to conservation when carrying out its regulatory work. Eels are important prey species for species listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, notably otters and bittern (the otter’s preferred food is eels). It is important, therefore, to ensure that eel populations are sufficient to sustain predation by these species”. That’s another statement referring to the importance of conserving eels. They also tell us “The eel fishery is the most valuable commercial inland fishery in England and Wales. It’s all about money So now we see why they have been charged with protecting the eel. It’s all about money. Okay, so what is actually happening to the poor old eel stocks within the UK and what measures are the EA adopting to conserve them? Again, it seems very little. Listen to this: In 1998 (That’s five long years ago for those of a mathematical kidney!) the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) advised the European Commission (EC) that “the European eel stock is outside safe biological limits and the current fishery is not sustainable.” What? Not sustainable! That can’t be? Otters and bitterns need eels to feed on. The eel is the most valuable fish in inland waters. Even the Environment Agency knows this and says so on its web site. The simple true fact is, the eel stock has reached an all time low throughout Europe. Its numbers have fallen so low that many top fishery scientists think it cannot recover and will go extinct. Serious stuff! Trust me; if the Environment Agency haven’t done anything to help conserve the most valuable commercial inland fishery in England and Wales, (despite a specific Act of Parliament instructing them to do so) it’s a relatively safe bet to assume that they won’t do anything at all to help us anglers fight the anti’s or help conserve a species with no financial interest; namely, the poor old White Clawed Crayfish. You’re on your own son! See you later! Let’s hope it’s not too late The numbers of red signals have increased exponentially over the last few years and the trend is still upward. In addition to red signal crayfish, we also have several other foreign crayfish invaders that are also competing for their space and food. These include the Turkish, the Red Swamp and the Noble Crayfish. The licensing measures adopted by the EA were a vain attempt to try to help the White Clawed Crayfish and to prevent unauthorised seeding of waterways by persons attempting to raise these invaders for food. They also naively thought that issuing licences was a way of preventing people inadvertently taking the white clawed crays as well as red signals. They thought it would also help prevent cross infection from one water to another. The simple fact is, licensing of this type hasn’t worked at all and it never will. Let’s hope it’s not too late and that hopefully there is still time to save the White Clawed Crayfish. Maybe we can if we act now. What the Environment Agency need to do as a matter of extreme urgency, is to re-label the Red Signal as an official pest. Advertise that fact heavily. Put it on the same footing as the rat. Give everyone a chance to hate, catch and kill it. Inform all of us about the obvious differences between the species so that we can clearly identify a white claw when we catch one. Come down heavily on anyone caught re-seeding or introducing red signals to new waterways. Encourage anglers to take a trap with them when they go fishing. We can all do our bit here. Add the facility to trap crays onto our Environment Agency Rod Licence if need be but please, please, please, don’t delay any further. If these measures are adopted now, I feel sure that four million anglers pulling together will help reduce the Red Signal population considerably, even though I accept that we may never completely eradicate them. If we don’t do something about improving our whole ecosystem soon, it’s even more apparent that the White Crayfish will become extinct in the UK, and the Freshwater Eel will shortly follow it. Do you fancy that? Well, do you? Kevin Thornton English Nature White Clawed Crayfish Monitoring: White Clawed Crayfish.pdf |
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