One unwelcome invader to our rivers is the North American Signal Crayfish, a ferocious cannibal that will eat anything that comes its way, fish eggs, ducklings, young Moorhens and has all but finished off our indigenous species. Apart from doing harm to our wildlife they can collapse a river bank by their constant burrowing. The River Ock has its share of this monster and Steve has been doing his best to control them (over 100 in 3 days from a 10 meter stretch) You have to be licensed by the E.A to catch them and putting them back is forbidden, (failure to comply carries a hefty fine) but they do make for good eating!
Every so often they are on the menu at the Fish in Sutton Courtenay – very tasty!
Crayfish Tails very popular as sandwich filling, with rocket and mayo….
Crayfish Bob:
http://www.crayfishbob.co.uk/
should have been at the Job Fair.
Does the Daily Mail know about this latest immigration scandal? Something should be done….
Let me get this right now.
We have an invasive species that has decimated other indigenous species yet, in our government’s wisdom, you need to get a license to catch and remove them…
One wonders how we ever found our way across the Channel let alone ruled much of the planet…
Hi Adrian, yes it does sound stupid, but the reasoning is you have to have trap of strict dimension so as not to trap accidentally, Water Voles and or Otters, both of which are in the Ock, the white card on the trap is the EA licence.
I have just seen my first crayfish, it was a good size, so large I could see it across the River Ock wondering along under water. Easily the size of the palm of my hand, maybe bigger and with a white stripe across each pincer.