Got those Crayfish blues

[GaryBeaner]

Just wondered if anyone can help me. I bought three crayfish traps from Ronnie Sunshines, but i need advice regarding where to put them, what time of day, and best baits? Any help would be great.

[Raikey]

without a licence you really shoud,nt put them anywhere.

my old man has just had a real job getting hold of the ticket to trap signal crayfish in a local park/carp fishing pond near us,...

i believe each trap has a licence too,...

i'll ask him the route he took and come back with more info,...

[Shewie]

A half opened tin of tuna in brine works wonders for crayfish.

[CanadianMike]

Man, you guys have such tough rules over there for everything. Over here we may need a fishing license, that's it, but there is nothing written regarding catching crayfish in terms of license, daily amount, etc. If anything, they are considered pests, so likely we could catch as many as we want per day without even a question.

[jeepers]

here in the us we just use a chicken neck or the gizzards or liver. and just put it in an area where theres alot of shelter for the crayfish hide under and leave it.

[Martin]

Hi Guys

Believe it or not, they are considered pests in the UK too, owing to the fact that they are non indigenous imports from North America, but in order to control the spread of them their capture has been licensed.

Martin

[Ashley Cawley]

Hi Guys

Believe it or not, they are considered pests in the UK too, owing to the fact that they are non indigenous imports from North America, but in order to control the spread of them their capture has been licensed.

MartinYeah, adding to that; the reason there is probably strict licensing required is because our native white crayfish are now endangered because of the non-native invaders, so I'm guessing they are trying to prevent people from wrongly catching the native-whites that are in trouble (hence it's illegal to do so).

If it was my choice I wouldn't have such tight legislation, all we need is a very small bit of education, if you want to catch Crayfish (here in the UK) it would be nice if there was a really simple test that people had to do in order to be able to catch them; "Here's two models the American & the Native-White, which one's the American?" - Then your informed your only allowed to catch that one :) ... nothing against the Americans of course :p

[CanadianMike]

That's easy, the American one is more arrogant, the native one stops doing crawfish stuff for a cup of tea once in a while. Lol

I did some searching around the Ontario laws, it basically mentioned the non-native crawfish and the native ones, but nothing as far as regulations goes.

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Biodiversity/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_166922.html

I guess it didn't occur to us that people will actually catch them to eat, literally the general concensus is they are bait, right up there with frogs, worms and minnows. ;)

[GaryBeaner]

Does it make a difference if I'm doing it with the permission of the landowner? I dunno, not only are they American, they're politicians hiding behind red tape!!!
What about diplomatic immunity?

[Martin]

Does it make a difference if I'm doing it with the permission of the landowner? I dunno, not only are they American, they're politicians hiding behind red tape!!!
What about diplomatic immunity?

Whether you have the permission of the landowner or not, you still need a license. It's the same for coarse fishing.

Martin

[wabbiter]

i've heard down south you can get a licence relatively easy, but here in the north west you've no chance,

[Bernie]

It'll soon be like the grey squirrel - so prolific that the native species (red) is hardly ever seen, and releasing a grey once caught is illegal. So just wait a year or two and you'll find the law will dictate that you cannot free the signal crayfish and you'll be forced to eat it. nom nom nom.

Polotics - always reactive, never proactive.

[wabbiter]

that laws already in force............

[seb.h]

I've been thinking about doing this, but I don't know the kind of license you need does anyone know?

[GaryBeaner]

Nicked this from DEFRA NATIONAL CRAYFISH TRAPPING BYELAWS
On 1 June 2005, the Environment Agency introduced a package of crayfish Byelaws that will allow them, under certain conditions, to approve the trapping of crayfish in England and Wales. In the past only the Thames Region of the Environment Agency had the authority to allow this activity.
The hope is that the byelaws will aid in the control non-native populations, and where appropriate, commercially exploit them. They also hope that these byelaws will go some way towards protecting the remaining native crayfish populations.
If you are thinking of trapping crayfish you should bear in mind that there are a number of conditions that need to be met. Permission to trap will be dependent on local situations, in particular the presence of the native crayfish. The EA will also take into account the possible detrimental effect that trapping could have on other species, such as protected animals like otters and water voles. Many water courses go through private properties and it will be your responsibility to obtain the permission of the landowner before you commence. You should also try and ensure that the traps are inspected every 24 hours, and disinfected after use.
You should also be aware that if you reintroduce the caught crayfish into any other waters, without the required licence, you could be liable for prosecution under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and this could result in a heavy fine.
We would strongly advise you to seek advice from your local Environment Agency Officer before you make an application.
Crayfish trapping advice packs are available from the National Fisheries Laboratory 01480 483968. Further information on these byelaws can be found on the Environment Agency website.

It's a bit long winded to say the least!

[MikeWilkinson]

You think thats long winded, when you really dig into this and contact Defra and the EA in person it gets really confusing!

To try and simplyfy it though:-

In a nutshell in most places you need a licence to trap crayfish, there are some areas where you don't as they have already killed off the native species, check with defra for the current list.

If you do catch them, no matter what size you cannot release them back into the wild, so eat them all.

Unless you have a specific licence to transport and keep them live, you must kill them immediately.

If you do keep them in water (alive or dead), the water in which you keep them has to be disposed of safely and preferably sterillised - it is the crayfish plague that signals carry that predominanly kills our native stock.

Further to this, If you fish, walk/cross areas where the signals habitat, you should clean all boots and equipment thoroughly as the plague spores can survive without a host for 6-22 days in any water - including surface run off. Signals can cross land so that means small ponds and puddles are all potential carriers.

If you do intend to go out and catch them then contact both your local EA officer and Defra to obtain permissions - It is not an easy process, you need locations, times, landowners permissions EA approved traps - takes ages.

If however you have an EA approved fishing licence or Eel trapping licence and you 'happen' to catch them on the line/net or trap then it would be an offence for you to put them back and you are encouraged to kill them immediately. As long as you don't transport them in water or keep alive then you can take them home, wash them - boil the water before disposing and have them for your tea.

Unfortunatley for me there are very few - almost none in my part of the country, but fortunate for the masses of white crayfish that live here!

One final thing, why I sort of agree with some of the by-laws is that believe it or not, only trapping the larger crayfish can cause a population explosion in the smaller, weaker crayfish, there by spreading the plague quicker. Reason being that the larger crayfish, out feed the litte uns and sometimes feed on them and therefore actually self control the numbers of crayfish in a given area. You remove the big uns for dinner and there is more space and food for the remaining smaller population to inhabit and grow into.

These rules are also applicable to the Chinese mitten crab that now also in habits the thames and the east coast.

[Swamprat]

I'm assuming from the way some of the posts read, that you guys do not eat crayfish, or crawfish as we call them. Are you just using them for bait? If so it does not seem to be worth the trouble of getting licensed and all that just to catch fish bait.

But in regards to the OP, jeepers advice works quite well for american crayfish. Guess if you catch the native type you just have to throw them back in.

[Martin]

I'm assuming from the way some of the posts read, that you guys do not eat crayfish, or crawfish as we call them. Are you just using them for bait? If so it does not seem to be worth the trouble of getting licensed and all that just to catch fish bait.

But in regards to the OP, jeepers advice works quite well for american crayfish. Guess if you catch the native type you just have to throw them back in.

That's not quite right Swamprat. Most of us would eat them if we caught them, it's just not easy to find the right water and to get permission to fish for them when you do. :)

What part of the world are you from Swamprat?

Martin

[Swamprat]

oh ok. misunderstood then. I'm from the southern US. Not quite in what we call Cajun country, but close enough to enjoy a good crawfish boil every now and then. Over here, you just have to find a water hole and start catching. There is one area that floods yearly. Some years when the water goes down the ditches will be so full of crawfish we just walk down the road filling up burlap sacks and five gallon buckets with them.

[paul standley]

If it was my choice I wouldn't have such tight legislation, all we need is a very small bit of education, if you want to catch Crayfish (here in the UK) it would be nice if there was a really simple test that people had to do in order to be able to catch them; "Here's two models the American & the Native-White, which one's the American?" - Then your informed your only allowed to catch that one :) ... nothing against the Americans of course :p

I'm with Ash on this one, some simple education and we could all get our frying pans out...

[Swamprat]

So, just curious. How do you guy's prefer to eat them? Around here we usually boil them with some heavy seasoning such as Old Bay and cayenne pepper. I've also used the tail meat to make crawfish fettuccine and recently tried crawfish bread. Basically it was french bread with crawfish and cheese on it. mmmm, so good.