Scarborough Sea Cut crayfish moved for weir repairs

30 June 2014 Last updated at 16:26

A colony of about 100 protected native crayfish is to be moved from a canal to allow the water to be drained during repairs to a nearby weir.

The Environment Agency is moving the native crayfish and fish from the Sea Cut, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

Part of the cut, built after a flood in 1799, is to be drained before repairing cracks in Lower Newby weir.

Trout, eels and the endangered white-clawed crayfish are to be returned in August after repairs are finished.

Cages are to be used to catch the crayfish before electricity is used to stun the fish for collection, the agency said.

White-clawed crayfish are Britain's only native freshwater crayfish and are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-28091368

1,000 crayfish released into river at Builth Wells

8 May 2014 Last updated at 21:57

More than 1,000 native white-clawed crayfish have been released into a river in Powys in a bid to "save the species from extinction".

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has reared and released over 2,700 captive reared crayfish into the wild in the last three years.

The latest juvenile batch were released in a river tributary near Builth Wells.

Native crayfish numbers have been affected by non-native American signal crayfish and pollution, say officials.

They have been released into specially selected "ark" sites on a tributary of the River Irfon after being reared at NRW's Fish Culture Unit with help from local ecology charity the Wye and Usk Foundation.

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