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Crayfish

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  • 04-06-2010 2:17pm
    #1
    evilhomer1
    Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭


    Hi all, I fished a stretch of canal the other day that used to be fairly productive and I hadn't fished for a few years. Well 1/2 hours into the session I had bagged up........... on crayfish literally double figures, i even switched to corn and the buggers were still grabing my line. Probably discussed before but are certain streches like this now and do they effecr the fish I imagine they feed on fish eggs, main question do they have a major imopact on fish stocks in our canals?


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    #2
    coolwings
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 3,455 Mod ✭✭✭✭coolwings


    They are cyclical like perch. their population goes up peaks and they disappear to come back a few years later.
    They are a good sign since pollution kills them. So you are assured the water quality must be good when they turn up.
    Eels are voracious predators on small crayfish. I expect the abundance you experienced is due to the crash in the eel population. Perch also eat lots and they are very nutritious, so expect the size of perch to increase dramatically this year and next.

    I hope the ones you caught were the native white clawed crayfish, and not a colony of the American Pacific Red Clawed Crayfish which have now wiped out the natives right across the UK and Europe. They were brought in by fish farmers as a cash crop species and went invasive. So far, Ireland has remained free of that particular problem.


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    #3
    zacmorris
    Registered Users Posts: 215 ✭✭zacmorris


    Are they a protected species (crayfish) are you allowed to fish for them in Ireland?


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    #4
    Bizzum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,034 ✭✭✭Bizzum


    zacmorris wrote: »
    Are they a protected species (crayfish) are you allowed to fish for them in Ireland?
    Protected alright, enforced by NPWS and not Fisheries as you'd expect.


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    #5
    zacmorris
    Registered Users Posts: 215 ✭✭zacmorris


    Bizzum wrote: »
    Protected alright, enforced by NPWS and not Fisheries as you'd expect.

    Good that's what i thought. Was cycling along the Grand Canal today near Straffan and spotted a rope going from the bank underneath the bridge into the water. Stopped to check it out and it was a Crayfish pot with a Mackerel tied to it- there was one Crayfish in it. I removed the Mackerel and set the Crayfish free then got rid of the trap. Glad i did it now as wasn't 100% sure they were protected, but anyway would have caused a mess of someone's prop.

    On another note- water was extremely clear on the canal today- but zero life (bar the crayfish) no visible life in the water whatsoever!?


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    #6
    coolwings
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 3,455 Mod ✭✭✭✭coolwings


    zacmorris wrote: »
    ....On another note- water was extremely clear on the canal today- but zero life (bar the crayfish) no visible life in the water whatsoever!?

    I always find it amazing how the fish manage to disappear so thoroughly during winter, even with the total clarity of water that frosty weather brings!


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