Crayfish!

Hi me & my boss want to go & catch some crayfish to eat, i know they are in the venue (lea) but what are the legal implications?

When would be best to fish for them (using a trap)?

The native White CLaw is a protected specie and you are not allowed to remove the signal or turkish without consent

http://www.advocatesforanimals.org/pdf/crustreport.pdf

http://www.lbap.org.uk/bap/species/crayfish.htm

National status

The white-clawed crayfish is a Priority Species in the UK BAP It is protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in respect of taking from the wild and sale. Schedule 9 of the same act makes it an offence to release or allow to escape into the wild three species of non-native crayfish.

so i take it crayfishing is a no-no!

I cant catch one and use it as bait but I can go to Tescos ,buy one and use it as bait

"you are not allowed to remove the signal or turkish without consent"

Consent of the water owner is obviously required before removal of any fish or crustacean, but subject to that what if any restriction are you suggesting applies to the non-native invaders ? None as far as I am aware... and very tasty.

And the invaders are not exactly endangered.... Quote from Godalming Anglers Association Bailiff in 2004:

?The river has definitely been fishing steadily better as the fish return following the removal of tons (and I do mean tons) of crayfish by our now local trapper Martin Cooper. In one 200 yard stretch he cleared 3.4 tons of the not so little nippers!?

And what's with the Advocatesforanimals document and all ?

Do we take it that you are now following their advice and urging and giving up all fishing and turning vegetarian or what ???

See for example, amongst other pages on their site http://www.advocatesforanimals.org.uk/resources/farmed/fish.html

Also see

http://www.efishbusiness.co.uk/controls/part02.asp

Refer to the green areas on the map "where licences are not required to keep signal crayfish".

Not that I think taking for the purposes of killing and eating them would fall within any reasonable purposive interpretation esjudem generis the phrase "keeping" in the ?The Prohibition of Keeping of Live Fish (Crayfish) Order 1996?.

So, subject to the owner of the water not objecting to their removal - and who the hell is going to object ???? - as far as I can see the removal of nice tasty signal crayfish for the pot is no problem.
To the contrary, their removal is a positive (albeit small, given 3.4 tons per 200 yards !!!!) contribution to the preservation of the endangered native species....

That is unless the advocates for animals chaps have succeeded in persuading you not to eat invertebrates.

And if anyone is troubled by the "boiling crabs, crayfish and lobsters alive is cruel" issue then it is simple and easy enough to learn how to kill both species quickly and mercifully with a single knife thrust in the right place. Not exactly difficult...

PS. None of the above relates to the native white clawed crayfish, which should be left strictly alone.

Not that there is any need to trouble them, the Signals are delicious ! and prolific.... a trap will collect more than you can believe quicker than you can believe.

If you want a cheaper alternative then an old bicycle wheel with a stocking stretched over it and a piece of meat tied in the middle, then lowered into the water and left for a short while will collect you just as many....

It is such a shame the amount of American red clawed crayfish that seem to get killed on the bank, accidently trodden on etc.


Why a shame?


Well its a shame that there aren't a helluva lot more accidently killed. The amount of fish eggs they eat must be phenomenal and may even denude our rivers or fish eventually, they are vermin and should be treated as such.

The 1996 Regulation can be found at

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19961104_en_1.htm

"Citation, commencement, extent and interpretation 1.?(1) This Order may be cited as the Prohibition of Keeping of Live Fish (Crayfish) Order 1996, shall come into force on 29 May 1996 and shall extend to England and Wales.

(2) In this Order "crayfish" means a freshwater decapod crustacean of the Families Astacidae, Cambaridae or Parastacidae, other than the species Austropotamobius pallipes (commonly known as the Atlantic stream, or white clawed, crayfish). (ie. our endangered native crayfish is excluded from these regs - just don't go near them, an entirely justified world of pain and fines awaits those who do)

Prohibition of keeping of crayfish
2.?(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, no person shall keep any live rayfish, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Minister.

(2) The prohibition specified in paragraph (1) above shall not apply to crayfish of the species Pacifastacus leniusculus (commonly known as the signal crayfish) kept within those parts of England and Wales which are within the postcode areas set out in column 1 (and described in column 2), as read with column 3, of the Schedule to this Order.


The schedule referred to being found at:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1996/Uksi_19961104_en_2.htm


Which I think (though I have hardly sat down and checked it !) corresponds to the green areas of the map shown on the other page mentioned above.


So the upshot is that if you are in any of the postcode areas set out in the Schedule to the Regs / the green areas on the map you can harvest Signal crayfish for the pot quite cheerfully and without needing licences etc.

If outside these postcode areas you have to ask the EA for a licence before doing so.

The licence, if granted, is free - how often does that happen with government ? ? ? shows how much the EA don't like Signals....

But may not be granted if there are reasons not to, eg. risk of disturbance of the native white clawed crayfish in the same water etc.

That said note that the prohibition, even if outside the permitted postcode areas, only applies to the "keeping" of "live" crays. So there would appear to be a loophole. If you trap and kill Signals forthwith on the bank you seem to be OK as the regs do not apply to dead Signals.


One little wrinkle that amuses is that it logically follows from the original act and the regs is that it is unlawful to put a signal crayfish back in the water once you have caught it or to release it on the bank, as in doing so it is plain that you know it will inevitably return to the water, albeit under its own steam.

It is also unlawful (outside the permitted postcode areas) to keep it live....

Good old Catch 22

So if you want to avoid committing an offence either way it seems that you have no alternative but to kill the damned things if you do catch them !

look Tesco why don`t you just settle for a Kebab or something simpler?

Kebabs (with the exception of seafood kebabs !) will surely fall within the category of abuse of cattle, poultry and pigs ?

Can't see your friends in Advocatesforanimals being any happier with that one, surely.....

haha, no problem, most of the Kebabs round here dont have meat in them anyway

(well maybe the odd cat)?

True... did you see that chefs from hell or was it kitchens from hell programme on the idiot box a couple of weeks ago - they fished a dead cat out of the bottom of an enormous six foot tall stock pot which had been simmering all week... apparently the stock tasted delicious ! and they saw no need to throw it away, all served up to happy customers.

On the Kebab front it has also always amused me that the official figures for the amount of Halal meat eaten in the UK are more than twice that of the Halal meat recorded as having been slaughtered / imported into the UK....

Lots of someones somewhere are being (very profitably) very naughty boys indeed

''look Tesco why don`t you just settle for a Kebab or something simpler?''

Haha,

well its a team building exercise, beer, crayfishing etc!

We'd just like to see if we can get some, free food init!

free food init!

And damned tasty with it.... garlic butter with a squeeze of lemon.... yummy

yuk yuk

your pork is far far better...............................and free ha ha ha