Advertisement

Crayfish released to replace those hit by pesticide spill

White-clawed crayfish released into the River Ennig, near Brecon Credit: NRW

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) says nearly 600 juvenile crayfish have been released into a Powys river to replace the original population which fell victim to a pollution incident in 2012.

It says the white-clawed crayfish have been raised in the Cynrig Hatchery to replace the fish which were killed when a pesticide release affected a 2km stretch of the River Ennig at Talgarth, near Brecon.

Other species such as bullheads were also found dead in the river but it was the crayfish deaths which caused particular concern.

The white claw, Britain’s only native crayfish, was already under threat from disease, climate change, habitat degradation and competition from the more aggressive American crayfish which were introduced for food in the late 1970s and 1980s.

We’ve released 570 juvenile crayfish into a tributary of the Ennig and a further 1,000 juveniles will be released next year to replace those killed in 2012.

The fish were reared at the Cynrig Fish Culture Unit, where a crayfish conservation strategy has been in place since 2009 which aims to protect existing crayfish populations and establish safe havens for the species.

– Oliver Brown, NRW Fish Culture Officer