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Making a Splash for Endangered Species

The UK population of White-clawed Crayfish has crashed due to the introduction of North American Signal Crayfish – a non-native species which carry a disease which White-claws have no resistance to.

September is a good month to get your feet wet! As well as fish surveys  (see my previous blog) we’ve also been continuing to help strengthen the future prospects for our native White-clawed Crayfish.

The UK population of White-clawed Crayfish has crashed due to the introduction of North American Signal Crayfish – a non-native species which carry a disease which White-claws have no resistance to.

Donning the waders once again we’ve been out and about translocating 1,732 of these critically endangered crustaceans. This work has been ongoing for 12 years now, with almost 10,000 White-clawed Crayfish re-located through our ‘Crayfish in Crisis’ projects. Previously we established new populations at 18 locations, which we call Ark Sites. Ark Sites are areas that have been extensively surveyed and found to be free from, and as isolated as possible from the invasive Signal Crayfish, and therefore keep the newly introduced populations of White-claws protected from the Crayfish plague the Signal’s often carry.

 

Collecting crayfish

We’ve been able to identify and establish three new Ark Sites in Staffordshire, and during September translocations took place with dozens of people from almost as many organisations coming out to help catch, record and move White-claws to their carefully selected new homes.

This translocation, from a protected and healthy breeding population of White-claws to new Ark Sites, will not cure the disease, but it will throw a lifeline to improve their chances of avoiding imminent extinction..

The Trust would like to extend thanks to Forestry England for allowing us to continue to use their donor sites at Cannock Chase. Also huge thanks to the superb volunteers who donated their time to help.

Conservation partners this season include the Staffordshire Trent Valley Catchment Partnership, Forestry England, Staffordshire County Council, Cannock Chase AONB, Environment Agency, The Trentham Estate, National Trust, Natural England, CE Horsford Forestry & Environmental, Defence Infrastructure Organisation and FPCR Environment and Design. 

Jonathan Groom with juvenile crayfish

Jonathan Groom, SWT’s monitoring officer, also came along to help and thoroughly enjoyed the day, he said: “It was an absolute privilege to be able to not only see these amazing, endangered creatures up close, but also to be able to do something to help safeguard their population here in Staffordshire!”

 

Looking forward we’ve got further habitat works for Crayfish planned this winter through our Action for Invertebrates Project, which is funded by Severn Trent's Great Big Nature Boost. And we’ll also be identifying more Ark sites and reinforcements to go ahead in 2023 and 2024.

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