Trapping Signal Crayfish

[T.eddie]

My permit is for a Peak District river and the American Signal Crayfish that we catch must be killed and disposed of onsite.

Yeah same here with kill on site, though annoying thing is, if a commercial enterprise you can get a licence to transport live to kill elsewhere I.e. in your house

 

[Morkai]

Yeah same here with kill on site, though annoying thing is, if a commercial enterprise you can get a licence to transport live to kill elsewhere I.e. in your house

What is the recommended method of dispatch except for boil on the bank?

 

[Klenchblaize]

K

 

[T.eddie]

What is the recommended method of dispatch except for boil on the bank?

A knife at the base of the head will sever the spinal cord, then for good measure you can cut down through the head

 

[Morkai]

A knife at the base of the head will sever the spinal cord, then for good measure you can cut down through the head

Too much risk of dropping one of the little buggers back in, best take them home.

 

[T.eddie]

Too much risk of dropping one of the little buggers back in, best take them home.

I know I'll take them to the truck first so I can rinse them off and then despatch on the tailgate with a knife and chopping board

 

[Bo Diddley]

My brother has this licence for the river Lugg where there are plenty of them now sadly.

You should know if you take them away and leave them in a tub of water for 24h, they will all eat each other. You won’t be left with many other than a couple of the bigger ones.

You can make a divided tray type system to keep the separated, I use large plastic bottles with the top cut off, held together with cheap plastic grips at the top, and clothes pegs aren't quite up to the job.

 

[Bo Diddley]

Hi all,

Ive recently been approved to trap on a stream that runs through one of the farms I shoot on. When I spoke with the environment agency (EA) they advised that a licence would need to be obtained from natural England if I wanted to take the crayfish home while they are still alive (I would prefer to do this so that they can be cleaned/purged prior to being despatched).
I looked over the application and it seemed very much geared towards commercial enterprise. As this was for personal consumption I contacted Natural England for clarification, as watching people do this in the UK on YouTube / reading blogs for UK trappers it seemed many were not doing so legally from what I could make out of the rules.

To help others that may be looking into this, the response I received advised to the question "Can you take trapped signal crayfish home alive to despatch after purging (24hrs):

"Unfortunately this is not something Natural England would licence. Our licencing facilities are for business purposes only.

As the transport of live signal crayfish from area of capture is illegal without a licence, please read the further information below, which you could find of use for capturing and dispatch on site for personal consumption.

The invasive alien species (enforcement) order came into force in December 2019. this now restricts certain activities such as the keeping and transport and release of listed species. So individuals intending to hold and transport live signal crayfish for commercial purposes mist now apply to Natural England. If you are trapping just for personal consumption then Natural England would not be able to issue you a licence for this purpose. To emphasise, the keeping, transport and release of live listed crayfish species is an illegal activity which we are unable to licence you to do."

hopefully the above will help others out who are venturing to do this, with all things legal best to contact the Natural England and the Environment Agency if there are any questions/queries

Tom

Red tape is killing this country, some things are not worth worrying about... Stay Calm And Carry On Regardless.

 

[T.eddie]

Red tape is killing this country, some things are not worth worrying about... Stay Calm And Carry On Regardless.

Yeah it is a silly bit of governance in my opinion but last thing I'd want is to fall foul of the law for something that us poorly explained across the various trapping information out there

 

[T.eddie]

After our first blank we finally managed to get 2 signal crayfish out the river on the farm. Now we have found where at least some are the traps are back out and we will see if we get some more tomorrow. My daughter had a great time setting the traps and then pulling them back in with the "crabs" in them. While it won't make a meal I can boil and freeze until I have enough for something proper.

What a great quick run to the farm to introduce my daughter to foraging/hunting/trapping. She has now said she wants to come shooting but she is still a tad young for that.

 

[devon deer stalker]

After our first blank we finally managed to get 2 signal crayfish out the river on the farm. Now we have found where at least some are the traps are back out and we will see if we get some more tomorrow. My daughter had a great time setting the traps and then pulling them back in with the "crabs" in them. While it won't make a meal I can boil and freeze until I have enough for something proper.

What a great quick run to the farm to introduce my daughter to foraging/hunting/trapping. She has now said she wants to come shooting but she is still a tad young for that.

View attachment 311005View attachment 311006

Is the one in the bottom photo definitely a signal?
I'm no expert, never seen one in the flesh

Will you be purging them for 24 hours?

 

[T.eddie]

Is the one in the bottom photo definitely a signal?
I'm no expert, never seen one in the flesh

Will you be purging them for 24 hours?

Yeah it's the same as the one at the top just before I cleaned it. I haven't purged them for long just in some fresh water on the farm then despatched them

 

[devon deer stalker]

I need to apply for a licence, apparently my local streams are full of them.

 

[User00057]

I applied last year and was told in England they don't have staff to deal with any applications and in Wales you are only to trap for scientific purposes now. Saw EA team at Gamefair and they confirmed the same. If it has changed i might try again as streams around me are loaded with them

 

[T.eddie]

I need to apply for a licence, apparently my local streams are full of them.

Definitely took about 20 days in total from application to the license coming through, well worth it and another experience

 

[T.eddie]

I applied last year and was told in England they don't have staff to deal with any applications and in Wales you are only to trap for scientific purposes now. Saw EA team at Gamefair and they confirmed the same. If it has changed i might try again as streams around me are loaded with them

Try again I only applied in March or so and didn't have any issues

 

[Ruby Tuesday 2]

I need to apply for a licence, apparently my local streams are full of them.

The river creedy and some stretches of the Exe have a lot in them Burrator reservoir is crawling in then as we found out when we left our trout in a bag in the margins to keep cool.

 

[VSS]

My permit is for a Peak District river and the American Signal Crayfish that we catch must be killed and disposed of onsite.

How close to the riverbank would you need to be to be "onsite"?
If you own the riverbanks, with the river running through your own property, on which your house stands, what then? Could you take them alive to the kitchen? It might only be 100yds or so.

 

[T.eddie]

How close to the riverbank would you need to be to be "onsite"?
If you own the riverbanks, with the river running through your own property, on which your house stands, what then? Could you take them alive to the kitchen? It might only be 100yds or so.

I think you could, when I spoke with the EA / NE you couldn't transport them from where you got them, but if you live where you found them then i think it would be okay, though don't quote me on that

 

[T.eddie]

We got another 3 today, another excited child as she pulled the traps out. Also caught a small fish which we chucked back. The cat food seems to be working well