Signal Crayfish

[captaincarot]

have you read your fishing licence recently , it makes absolutely no mention of cray fish on it and neither do any of the bylaws whiich pertain to this licence, which means that a fishing licence doesn't cover you to catch cray fish. only a cray fish trapping licence will do this.

[Jonners]

Originally Posted by captaincarot

have you read your fishing licence recently , it makes absolutely no mention of cray fish on it and neither do any of the bylaws whiich pertain to this licence, which means that a fishing licence doesn't cover you to catch cray fish. only a cray fish trapping licence will do this.

As I understand it, there has been some legal decision/judgement that effectively says that crayfish are fish, and are therefore covered by your normal fishing regulations. The trapping of crayfish is a separate thing, which is regulated, and for which you will require a different licence. The following is from the Environment Agency website:
the traps and fyke nets commonly used to catch crayfish are "Fixed Engines" as defined by the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act (1975); unless authorised by byelaws, the use of these instruments to catch crayfish is an offence under Section 6 of SAFFA (1975). Therefore, while fishing for crayfish is legal, unless crayfish traps are authorised by byelaws, their use is illegal, even where they are used within a site registered as a fish farm.

Where that leaves people who go catching them with crab lines or nets, I'm not quite sure

[handyman]

There we are Captaincarot, Jonners has re-iterated what I had already noted.
I have also had a conversation with the nice people at the Environment Agency about this issue. Their view was that providing you do not go equipped with the intention of solely catching signal crayfish, ie with traps, and you happen to catch one on your line, it must not be returned to the water, and ideally must be humanely despatched, otherwise you fall foul of other laws! The fact they, the signal crayfish, can attack you with impunity is another matter, and boy, do they nip.
When I go fishing, I like to think that I will catch something for the table, of an appropriate size and I do not always catch what I thought I would. If I catch a few of these alien invaders and I cannot throw them back in, why not eat them?

It would be interesting to see if anybody has been prosecuted for unintentionally catching crayfish on their rod or baited line. I could not see what the case would be other than a lot of bureaucratic red tape that would get thrown out of court. Bear in mind that the Law is always an ass and is usually disjointed and outdated on these matters, and bears no resemblance to logical thought.

Handyman

[captaincarot]

as i pointed out to my mate, they're easy to deal with, just wave some thing at them from the front, then when they go for it grab em from behind, so he did unfortunately he chose to wave his thumb at it, laugh i nearly fell in

[Waterhorse]

I'm skimming through a lot of postings here as saw some kids catching crayfish today in our canal (with lumps of bacon, a string and a stick...) Your reply made me lol. V funny. My Childen are now fascinated, (I'll have to start hiding the bacon) but still unsure on this business of purge or dont purge before you feed them to your friends and family? Can anyone offer more concrete advice?

[handyman]

Hullo Waterhorse, I have never bothered to purge signal crayfish as they do not retain any harmful stuff in their bodies. As a crustacean, I treat them just like crabs and lobsters, stick them in the freezer to go to sleep and clean the bodies under running cold water prior to sticking them in the pot, with cold water and then cranking up the heat.

Once cooked, I do remove the gut along with the shells, as you would with a prawn.

I eat lots of mussels, whelks, winkles, etc and never purge any of them. Why spoil the taste!?

The only crustacean I do purge are land snails, as they can be a bit foul tasting if not purged, but I only keep them for 48 hours, fed on home grown endive or lettuce, before they end up in the pot.

Why waste bacon feeding it to the crayfish? They will pick up on any bait, as they cannot smell the bacon! I would be a little cautious about going to fish for crayfish, unless you know the difference between our lovely native and the interloper. Catching either can get you a nasty fine if you go equipped. Suggest you read some of the previous postings.

Handyman

[Waterhorse]

Thanks Handyman for your V informative reply. Didnt know they couldnt smell!!!? Knock me down with a feather... But did research the difference between both species before going to catch. I was quite tentative in case I caught indiginous but having pulled 8 good sized, mature signals in about an hour, I am pretty sure the Macclesfield Canal has seen its last white crayfish.....The children had a great time but I dont think we will be making boulliabaise in the near future. Do you think the upside of this increase will aid the re population of the otter?

[nealey]

Can anyone tell me where there are any hot spots around Loughborough, Shepshed & Coalville areas ??
Cheers.

[Waterhorse]

Great message fourwings, we have them in our canal like this, there is no mistaking the two.

[Waterhorse]

I'll bet if you go to your local canal you'll find them, they are here in Macclesfield in their droves but not according to the Biodiversity Map. We catch them as you would crabs with bacon and a line. We havent eaten any yet to be honest, they look so unappetizing. I have eaten my own hens and geese and lambs but cant get excited about these ugly little devils.