Help Save Our Crayfish

A call has been made for the public to help save the white-clawed crayfish which is at risk of global extinction. KATE WILLIAMS finds out why

- Kate Williams

AS home to one of only two known populations of white-clawed crayfish in the county, Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is launching a project to monitor and help save this endangered species - and the people of Devon are needed to help that plight.

White-clawed crayfish are under threat of extinction due to a combination of declining water quality and the invasive American signal crayfish.

White-clawed crayfish were once widespread in English and Welsh rivers, but the species has suffered a massive decline in recent years. It is classified as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species and is at risk of global extinction.

One of the major reasons for the decline in white-clawed crayfish is the spread of ‘crayfish plague’, which attacks the soft tissue of crayfish. It is carried and spread mostly by signal crayfish which are unaffected by it, but the white-clawed crayfish are not immune and once introduced to their habitat, crayfish plague rapidly kills them in just a few weeks.

Nicky Green, crayfish specialist, has been surveying crayfish on the River Culm for the last ten years.

Nicky explains: “With one of the only remaining populations of whiteclawed crayfish here in Devon, we have a vital role to play in safeguarding the future of this endangered species”.