Crayfish trapping

Posted last year about this but never got round to it. However, I’m keen to get some crayfish trapping done this year but can’t find where to get a license in Scotland. Anyone know? Do I just need a regular fishing permit?

I think you need to buy a shellfish licence, I know a guy who had a Scallop one & he paid around £4000 for it from another guy.
BTW Crayfish are like hens teeth, I don’t know how you are going to target crayfish, as you are not in control of what enters your creels. I reckon I seen 500lobsters for every crayfish I have seen.

Contact the Environment Agency – I believe they’re the only people empowered to issue permits regarding crayfish. The native white-clawed crayfish is globally endangered though, so if there’s any chance they’ll be trapped or harmed (even if they’re not your intended target) you really shouldn’t be doing it at all.

I’m talking about the North American Signal Crayfish inland;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7564004.stm

They’re classed as a pest so as long as its done right – ie killed & not transported elsewhere, licenses can be had. Just not sure about Scotland as Defra do England & Wales. Thought it would be SEPA but its either hard to find on their website or I’m being daft.

you’re welcome to come down here and do it, bloody things are ravaging our wiltshire rivers!

Just get on with it, if you do get caught/questioned plead ignorance/run away then get a licence!
yee haw its the red kneck way!

Oxboy – I’ll mention your name as I scurry. Nice one…

jimmy, you need loads and loads of garlic with them.
very very earthy tasting.

garlic’s growing out back just now. And the beans to accompany.

As you’d say, Ton; om nom nom nom nom 🙂

I sent off for the stuff last year but never applied in the end. If you listen to Hugh Fearnly Wittingstall the EA will beg you to cure them of their crayfish armageddon. The reality is somewhat different.

You need to apply for a license to trap crayfish, it’s different from a rod and line license. There are a lot of considerations. Firstly, there’s a bit of a catch 22: They won’t let you trap in waters where there are white-clawed crayfish, and they won’t tell you what these are. They ask you to give details of the stretch of water you intend to trap on, including the owner, then they’ll tell you if you’re allowed to trap there. Your traps need to conform to their spec for not catching water voles and otters, and if you intend to transport live crayfish you need a separate licence to “keep” them. So if you want to purge their digestive tract of mud and sh1te before you eat it then you need the same licence as a commercial crayfish farmer.

Basically they want the waters rid of crayfish, but they don’t want merry foraging fearnly wittingstall types taking out all the big mature specimens to eat and leaving the smaller ones to proliferate.

I can email you the info pack/licence application if you want.

😆

davey – Cheers, If it Scottish, however bung it over. But if its the Defra form its just England & Wales.

It’s the Environment Agency who give out the licences but I gather this is a different agency in scotland. Maybe they won’t be such fascists about it! On the other hand I think the signal crayfish problem is worst in the Southeast of England.

I work for the Environment Agency and one reason you need a license is so they can monitor the catching and make sure people are not putting them in other water ways to farm them. They can grow to a decent size and are very aggressive, keep fingers away from the large ones. To be honest trying to eradicate them is like pissing in the wind. Oh and best bait apparently is rotten banana.

Bit off thread this tale but 2yrs ago at Father in laws house in France my boy (aged 11) spots some crayfish in stream that runs 20mts from house & armed with a garden cane with a piece of string tied to it & a wood screw as a hook starts to fish for the blighters (me thinking no chance) less than 1min later pulls out first of many catches that day, no bait just a wood screw to grab & they are hooked!!! (sic) mad a cut snake if you ask me!.

For anyone interested;

You will have to do this through the Scottish Government I’m afraid. It is a licensable activity (which is why you will have to go to the Scottish
Government) and there is a presumption against capture of signal crayfish for
personal or commercial purposes. The capture and possession of crayfish without a licence is illegal.

Defra have a whole page dedicated to this: http://www.defra.gov.uk/marine/freshwater/crayfish.htm

This is from their page: Crayfish trapping advice packs are available from the National Fisheries Laboratory 01480 483968.

yeah for England & Wales!!

Some of the rivers/brooks I weed cut in summer I can pull out loads of the things in certain streches. Seagulls love the things.

So which rivers do you think are good for ’em, Kuco?

They are very fond of luncheon meat, non-halibut pellets and paste made from Dynamite Baits GReen Swim Stim.

Trust me I’m a match fisherman 8) 8)

one river stretch I used to work on, we baited with pierced tins of cat food – can be used over and over again

we were taking bin loads back at the weekends to sell to pubs and restaurants

Plenty on the Brampton/kislingbury arm of the river nene. and a few areas of the welland.