Shellfish in freshwater.... in ireland???

tikprik

Hey folks,i've fished for all my life (nearly 30 yrs) on the shannon -south of athlone! Recently moved into an apartment with a river out the back, i went perch fishingin it on sunday andit was quiet enough then i got the fright of my life, i pulled in what i can only describe as a crayfish!!!in amoment of panick i threw it back in cos this absolutely freaked me out...anyway i said i'd give it another shot yesterday and wouldyou believe it but i landed another one,i got this one in a bucket of water, dont know what to do with him! Has anyone ever come across anything like this before?
I reckon this cant be good news!
P.S This is a tributary of the shannon!

Zzippy

1. Its great news. The freshwater crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) is a sign of good water quality. Don't be freaked out, its great to see them.

2. They are a protected species. Take it out of the bucket and put it back in the water. Now!

beer enigma

tikprik wrote: »

Hey folks,i've fished for all my life (nearly 30 yrs) on the shannon -south of athlone! Recently moved into an apartment with a river out the back, i went perch fishingin it on sunday andit was quiet enough then i got the fright of my life, i pulled in what i can only describe as a crayfish!!!in amoment of panick i threw it back in cos this absolutely freaked me out...anyway i said i'd give it another shot yesterday and wouldyou believe it but i landed another one,i got this one in a bucket of water, dont know what to do with him! Has anyone ever come across anything like this before?
I reckon this cant be good news!
P.S This is a tributary of the shannon!

Providing they are the freshwater crayfish & not the signal crayfish

Which one of these looks closer.....?

Degsy

I used to catch them accidendntally in the Camelin in longford..i was vaguely concerned about thier effect on fish eggs etc but they were never big enough to eat.

tikprik

I dunno, i'll have to try get another to have another look... i caught 2 more yesterday! My thoughts are more towards the signal crayfish, if i get a proper picture of one, i'll stick it up!

Zzippy

tikprik wrote: »

I dunno, i'll have to try get another to have another look... i caught 2 more yesterday! My thoughts are more towards the signal crayfish, if i get a proper picture of one, i'll stick it up!

The signal crayfish is a lot bigger, and the coloration on the claws is quite distinctive, its where it got the signal name from. If you do catch some can you take photos and post them?

coolwings

I'd rather you don't catch some. They wipe out native crayfish wherever they go.
UK rivers has a big problem that will never go away ... the trouble with alien invasives .... no cure.

Zzippy

coolwings wrote: »

I'd rather you don't catch some. They wipe out native crayfish wherever they go.
UK rivers has a big problem that will never go away ... the trouble with alien invasives .... no cure.

To clarify, I meant if he caught any crayfish to post pics so we could ID the species. I too would much rather he didn't catch any signals - we have enough problem with invasive species already! :mad:

ButcherOfNog

If you do catch signal crayfish, feel free to kill them and
1. Use them as bait
2. Eat them (apparently they're yummy)

Cormdogg

If theyre white claw, find out how to recognize them and throw em back,if theyre anything but, Stick em in the pot and save the last bastion of european crayfish!

http://www.invasivespeciesireland.com/mostunwanted/detail.asp?id=11

Dusty87

I caught them in the brosna. Its infested. I cant remember the claws but they were definately the colour of the signal. I Brought it home to show the brother (hes interested in that) but it died. Dont feel so bad now that it did, but ive thrown back loads:mad: