Summary
Come along and find out how to trap and survey the Invasive and Non-native American Signal Crayfish, to help protect native White claws !
As part of the Leicestershire & Rutland Invasive and Non-native Species Initiative (LINNSI) on-going partnership efforts to help survey, monitor and manage INNS across the county.
Description
American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) were introduced to Europe from North America in the 1960s and bred on farms for restaurants to serve as a delicacy. As opportunistic omnivores, signal crayfish aren't fussy about what they eat, which is negatively impacting native ecosystems and food webs.
The species that has suffered the most is our native white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes), which is now protected and heading towards extinction, and identified as a priority species in the new countywide Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) .
Join local expert and land management tutor Alex Gray at Brooksby College Campus, along with LCC Environmental partnerships officer Roseanna Burton to learn more about this problematic species and partake in a riverside survey, helping to sex and measure caught individuals, as part of ongoing monitoring and much needed control management to help our native species recover.
The morning will be used for survey effort and checking the traps, with an introduction to the species, and a fresh BBQ and social on site following the survey. The afternoon will then cover some practical management on another problematic INNS species; Himalayan Balsam, and it's relationship to damaging our river banks similarly to the American Signal Crayfish.
This is a fully catered event so please include any dietary requirments/allergies on the booking form
