A NIPPY ADVENTURE

CATCHING CRAYFISH

Travelling from Suffolk to Lincolnshire to catch crayfish on an exciting adventure, there is nothing better than daddy-and-daughter time. Or as I like to think of it daughter-and-daddy time as I’m away working a lot. The open road turns into small country roads with ditches and rivers. Extensive waterways turn into smaller rivers and drains teeming with these fantastic invasive creatures. As we embark on this journey, Dan and Poppy team up with an old friend Darren The Fenland Forager and become engrossed in a family tradition of Babbing, armed with fishing nets, poles, buckets, and excitement that got them up at 4 a.m. With laughter and anticipation, they make short work of getting what they came for catching crayfish, enjoying each other's company, and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Signal crayfish are non-native to UK waters. A real invasive and tasty species they originated from North America in the 1970's. And have become well-established in many water bodies across the UK.

This makes it ideal for the likes of us meat eaters who love a good surf and turf.

Unfortunately, they have outcompeted and displaced our native White-clawed crayfish which is native to our waters in the UK.

These non-native species are aggressive and can cause significant ecological damage and impact on infrastructure as they burrow into riverbanks causing erosion. where we were filming they had gotten firmly into a weir and had burrowed under the concrete. These extraordinary and destructive little creatures are a wonder but must be controlled.

They are controlled by license and seriously controlled to help keep numbers down. you can't just go out and catch them. It is illegal to take out and place back a signal crayfish. You can apply for a license through the government website.

You can find crayfish from others who already have a license to catch and get them from them. Once we had our home I placed them in a cleaning tank that filtered them out.

Unfortunately, this caused some issues with the girls as they grew to like them while they were there. Nevertheless, all was explained why we had them. It's essential to show the youth where food comes from. We had Tacos with them and all was well understood.

#SETTHEEXAMPLE

Large Cray Fish