I don’t want to be a bellpig but and you probably know this already but..... I would say that you need to be very careful if you plan to start trapping crayfish;
The native white-clawed crayfish is classed as a globally threatened species, with the UK holding as much as 24% of the world population. The species protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act, making killing, injuring, taking and sale criminal offences. It is also a National Biodiversity Action Plan priority species. I’m sure you how to identify them, but the importance of native crayfish and their level of protection makes knowing your crayfish ID very important – if you trapped a white-clawed rather than a signal, this could be construed as taking.
If you did manage to capture a signal crayfish, or any non native crayfish (3sp. in total) you could be committing an offence under the Crayfish Order 1996, by simply possessing the animal, unless you already have the appropriate licence. The Environment Agency now has powers to authorise the trapping of non-native crayfish which are implemented on a case by case basis – see
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/fish/246986/342184/1205879/1206007/ . Trapping without prior consent could lead to a £2500 fine and given that anyone could see you putting traps in the water I would say that it’s best to seek advice from the EA first.
The rules over trapping are in place mainly to prevent crayfish plague whihc is one of the main reasons for the recent decline of our native species, from reaching new locations. Crayfish plague can persist for up to 2 weeks in water so it is feasible that if you caught a signal with the disease and re-used the trap later, or worse, on the same day, the disease could be spread. Spread can be prevented by disinfecting equipment including Wellingtons etc. before re-using. Thorough drying can also have the same effect.
Basically, this is a proper minefield and there is considerable potential for making the situation worse for our native crayfish, as well as incurring a fine and a criminal record!! Therefore, I would say get some proper advice from the numbers on the website before trying to trap anything.
I’m not trying to diss the idea of wild food and such like, but sometimes it’s not as straight forward as guys like HFW would have us believe!!! (He is a wad though, anyone ever see his five-bird roast?)
