Mixed Signals

A UK man who thought he was doing the environment a favor by catching invasive American signal crayfish out of a local river has been fined £4,000 ($8,000) aftger authorities discovered he had actually caught and eaten the native white-clawed crayfish, an endangered species. Also, turns out he was breaking the law just by trapping for crayfish in Cumbria.

Colorado Crawdads

The USGS reported that rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) were found last year in the Yampa River, Colorado. This is the first record for this East Coast crayfish in Colorado. Read more about Colorado's response at the Western Slope Anglers Forum.

Bleached Pond

Wisconsin is preparing to bleach their Louisiana crayfish (crawfish? crawdads? :-)) out of existence. The invasive crustacean in question is the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), in case you're wondering.

Freedom Of Association

The Telegraph is reporting that hundreds of invasive crayfish have been found dead in the UK...but that's not a good thing. The Turkish crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) is an Eastern European species that has been introduced to the UK, one of at least four non-native crayfish in UK waters. The recent deaths of the Turkish crustacean have been attributed to a disease called "crayfish plague" caused by the fungus Aphanomyces astaci. Scientists are worried that this fungal pathogen could spread to the UK's one native species, the white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes). The invasive Marmorkrebs crayfish also carry the disease. Unfortunately, the North American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) appears to be immune.

Rust Monsters

The Frederick News-Post is reporting that concern about the spread of the rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) in Maryland has led to the state's Department of Natural Resources proposing new regulations that will include a ban on using crayfish as bait starting in 2009. In the meantime, the DNR is asking fishermen to avoid releasing any crayfish bait into the wild. The reasoning behind the request is that the native and introduced species are too difficult to tell apart.

Are You Smarter Than A 4th Grader?

Kudos to Ms. Gatchet's fourth grade science class in Corvallis, Oregon. After studying the rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) they ordered from a research facility, they smartly voted against releasing the critters into the wild (as classes often do) and instead handed them over to someone at Oregon State University Cooperative Extension for safe keeping. Rusty crayfish are native to the USA but only to the Ohio River area. The Statesman Journal has the full story.

Crawdaddy Oh!

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) have hitchhiked from Pennsylvania into northern Maryland. The crayfish are actually native to North America but not to Maryland. Officials are concerned that fishermen are spreading the crayfish southward by collecting them for bait and then dumping the leftovers when they are done fishing. The state Department of Natural Resources has joined forces with local universities to begin more intensive surveys of the invaded streams, and is asking anyone that thinks they've found a rusty crayfish to freeze it and call their hotline to report it.