Quandry; found tethered crayfish nets

Hi,

Not sure what to do, found a couple of tethered nets (more like lobster pots) in the water when walking my dog this morning, the nets had crayfish (signal) in them.

At first, I wasn't impressed as it's the upper Cherwell, where you can jump across it, and my dog often lays down in it!

A) The little darlings (crayfish) have made it this far up the Cherwell
B) Someone is poaching with illegal nets (no marking to indicate they were licensed)
C) Someone was poaching crayfish, i.e. getting the little darlings out of the water
D) My dog could get snagged up in them

What would you do?

Well, I suppose the PC reply would be to call the EA and have them remove the nets and/or try to find the owner for prosecution.

The Non-PC reply would be:

1) Remover and cook and eat said Crayfish
(very nice with a little lemon mayo')

2) Destroy the nets so as to ensure no repeat operation thereby making the area safe once again for your dog.

Sort of a case of, you pays yer money and takes yer choice?

[insert smiley thing > > > HERE]

Empty the pots, take the crays home and stick them in boiling salted and dill flavoured water, serve with a little mayonaise

Leave them as they are and tell the ea then its up to them. If the problem remains then as above, I prefer mine with garlic parsly and a little cayenne.

Or, take out the crays and replace with something obnoxious.A dead rat maybe.
Eat the crays.

Personally, I remove traps, contraptions, fixed lines then they are collected from my house by EA bailiff. Could just chuck them in the bin... better that they are aware of any illegal activity.

BTW - the weirdest fixed device I ever found was a rubber lure cobbled against a tree by coat hanger wire. Looked pretty optimistic to me - but a danger to wildlife.

Where they American Signal Crayfish? If so it could be the case that someone is simply trying to remove pests from the water. They are an invasive species and are not protected by any law, you can do what you like to them. Eating them is a good option.

I'd try to contact whoever holds the fishing rights or the EA if nobody holds the rights. There could be a problem and the traps are part of the solution, the crayfish stay alive in them so the domestic ones can be returned to the water and the nasty American ones can be served up with a slice of lemon on the side.

aintreeangler said:

Where they American Signal Crayfish? If so it could be the case that someone is simply trying to remove pests from the water. They are an invasive species and are not protected by any law, you can do what you like to them. Eating them is a good option.

I'd try to contact whoever holds the fishing rights or the EA if nobody holds the rights. There could be a problem and the traps are part of the solution, the crayfish stay alive in them so the domestic ones can be returned to the water and the nasty American ones can be served up with a slice of lemon on the side.

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Pest or not, you need a licence to trap and remove them.

As far as I know the laws surrounding the native white-clawed crayfish are pretty much like the laws protecting native amphibians, you aren't even allowed to touch them without a licence.

Peter Jacobs said:

The Non-PC reply would be:

1) Remover and cook and eat said Crayfish
(very nice with a little lemon mayo')

2) Destroy the nets so as to ensure no repeat operation thereby making the area safe once again for your dog.

Sort of a case of, you pays yer money and takes yer choice?

[insert smiley thing > > > HERE]

Click to expand...

I'll raise your non PC answer, Peter. Assuming we are talking signals.

Keep dog on lead, remove traps,stomp occupants to mush,rebait traps,put them back. Repeat frequently.

Place angry alligator in trap, replace trap in water

When removing/destroying/nicking the contents of the traps just be sure that the Pikeys, who set said traps, are nowhere to be seen! :wh

I believe it is illegal to return them once they are caught,
the same applies to Grey Squirrels.

Unless you are not sure that the law is being broken and they are not your traps, leave them alone. They belong to someone who just might have a legitimate reason for putting them there. Inform the EA by all means but otherwise it's not your business.
Is your doggie the size of a crayfish, by the way?

They are the size of indiginous crayfish (small), but they are the signal crayfish, sorry I don't eat such things, and the farmer has been spraying recently.

It is illegal to trap them without a license.

It is illegal to return them no matter how they are caught I have never returned a live signal crayfish to the water, I haven't seen any other type for years.

The bit of the water where the nets are in one of the deepest part for miles (nearly 50cm 18" deep), nearly all the way to Oxford where it joins the Thames(35 milesish) it doesn't get much deeper unless it floods. The river (stream) is about a 2 metre drop down and she just leaps in so it is a concern and could be problematic.

I take my dog for a walk, not an amble; dogs should not be kept on a lead when walking unless there is a reason for it such as cattle. The fields in question have crops with loads of footpaths and bridleways going through it and the farmer is more than happy for me to walk my dog there on the understanding that I am not a complete idiot.

I don't fish it as there are only minnows and the odd pike in there, it may be 1.5 metres (5'ish) across in places (not many though!); I was quite surprised to see signal crayfish in there, just shows how far they have spread, problem is though afore mentioned dog, if there was anything I probably wouldn't see it anyway.

Hmm Thanks for all the recipes though, but I don't think many would have made a decent meal out of what was there for a cat.

EA may be intersted to know that they are there, but that would be about it I suppose. They're not doing any harm except expecting a nice meal out of it. I think they would burn more calories walking (only way to get there sept tractor, arh) to and putting the nets in place.

I'll see if they are there tomorrow

personally i would report them to the EA, pest or not what is happening is illegal and tbh could be dangerous for other animals or fish

iannate said:

A) The little darlings (crayfish) have made it this far up the Cherwell

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They've been in there quite a while. The Upper Cherwell was stuffed full of signals when I lived in the area (early to mid nineties).

Iannate as Goonch says the Cherwell is full of signal crayfish, sadly they're ubiquitous in all of Oxfordshire's rivers.

If the traps aren't carrying an EA tag then it's more than likely that they're illegal. You should leave them alone and notify the EA, they'll deal with them as they offer a potential risk to otters, voles etc

What Skippy said, except add that Hobnail boots are mandatory.

beerweasel said:

I believe it is illegal to return them once they are caught,
the same applies to Grey Squirrels.

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Just curious but do grey squirrels often turn up in crayfish traps??

Only washed up squirrels turn up in them