In article , david
wrote:

re Signal Crayfish, strictly OT here but...

Derek, whats the name of the licence do you knoiw? My local PO didnt prove
very helpful. ()local as in salisbury, not reading)

I too am now confused ;-)

I can find loads of references to the change in regulations and the date
(1st June) upon which they changed - but none to the actual regs... To be
fair, as it's less than three months since the change it may just be an
administrative delay.

There -is- a reference to licences only being readily available in certain
areas:

"Permission to trap crayfish will be dependant on the local situation in
particular the presence of the native white claw crayfish. Other
determining factors include the reason for trapping, for instance in some
parts of the country trapping can only take place for monitoring and
conservation management purposes."

Maybe Salisbury has a few natives left in odd corners?
(In the 60's we used to catch native crays but that's out of the question
now. They were never quite so common as the signals have become but they
were first class chub bait.)

It was always possible to get a licence in the Thames Water area. The chap
I went with works for a boatyard outside Reading and has had a licence for a
long time. He always used lobster-pot style traps but got indifferent
results and we derived the method outlined earlier based on his knowledge of
successful baits and mine of sal****er dropnetting. I'm sure he said he got
his ticket from the PO. but he wasn't answering his 'phone this evening. I'll
try him again over the w/e.

There is an Environment Agency form FR2 which does include references to
trapping for personal use but it's ridiculously complex and restrictive -
intended for electrofishing, netting and other major fish-removal efforts
like draining reservoirs...

I don't think this can be the one the K&A narrowboat owners use. The
quickest way to clear it up might be for someone in the area to nip down and
ask.

OB sea fishing: Bassing in the morning :-)

Cheerio,

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