Invasive crayfish will 'never' be eradicated

The eradication of an invasive crayfish from a Devon reservoir will "never happen", South West Water has said.

It comes as the firm revealed a new plan to reduce numbers of the problematic American signal crayfish at Burrator reservoir by tackling its spawning grounds.

South West Water has tried many tactics over the years to remove the non-native crayfish including using dogs.

Kate Hills, South West Water's biosecurity and invasives manager said: "We will never be able to completely eradicate the crayfish – the aim is to reduce the population to a level where it will impact less on the native wildlife and the fishing."

Ms Hills said she believed it was the first time a spawning ground trial had been carried out in Great Britain.

The American signal crayfish - which are like small, freshwater lobsters - were originally brought to the UK 50 years ago to be farmed for European markets.

But the population soared after the species escaped into the wild. They carry a disease that has had a devastating impact on the endangered native white clawed crayfish.

As well as being voracious predators, the American crayfish burrows can cause river bank erosion.

South West Water said the drought of 2022 presented an "increased problem with the signal crayfish, but also an opportunity to manage them".

Since 2022 about 14,000 crayfish have been removed from the reservoir.

South West Water said it also planned to start a management programme at Roadford reservoir.

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