American Signal Crayfish

Three specimens of the American signal crayfish were recovered from the River Kelvin this summer. The origin of the Kelvin crayfish is unknown but deliberate introduction cannot be ruled out. The signal crayfish is a serious threat to the native biodiversity of the Kelvin system (and beyond) and extreme care should be taken to avoid the inadvertent transfer of small specimens on fishing tackle and boots. Tackle used on the Kelvin should therefore be disinfected before use in other river systems (including those in other parts of the Clyde catchment). Please copy the following link into your browser for more information
http://www.penrithanglers.co.uk/crayfishplague.htm

The Clyde River Foundation is researching the distribution of crayfish locally and sightings should be communicated to Willie Yeomans (w.yeomans@bio.gla.ac.uk) asap (telephone: 0141 330 5080). All specimens captured should be humanely killed (it is acceptable to crush them quickly underfoot) – do not put them back into the river. It is illegal to be in possession of live crayfish without a licence, so please do not remove any from the riverbank.