The Environment Agency is warning river users in the region to be aware of biosecurity measures to help protect crayfish after a suspected outbreak of so-called ‘crayfish plague’ near Great Ayton. .
The organisation is currently investigating a potential case of the disease on the River Leven, from its source near to Great Ayton down to where it joins up with the River Tees.
All anglers and river users are asked to be extra rigorous with their cleanliness and biosecurity measures.
Environment Agency ecology officers recovered 40 deceased white-clawed native crayfish along a 700-metre stretch of the River Leven at Crathorne, and samples have been sent to a specialist laboratory to confirm the initial concerns.
This disease is fatal amongst the rare, native white-clawed crayfish population that live and breed in North East waters.
Alice Fitch, Environment Agency team leader for biodiversity and geomorphology, said: “With the warm weather forecast expected over the coming days, it could attract more people to splodge, explore and fish in their local rivers and ponds.
“It’s so easy to throw your used wellies and fishing equipment into the boot of the car without cleaning them.
“The dangers of this being, if you then use the same equipment in a different water course the disease can be spread to other rivers and their resident crayfish populations, which could be extremely harmful.
“We would always urge people to check, clean and dry their footwear and equipment after spending time in and around watercourses.
“Anything that has contact with the water and riverbank needs to be cleaned thoroughly after use with warm water and environmentally friendly detergent. Then thoroughly dried for 48 hours to make sure any nasty parasites are killed.
“We are really lucky to have white-clawed native crayfish living in the North East and increased biosecurity is the best way to help protect the population.”
The crayfish plague is only harmful to native white-clawed crayfish and can’t be transmitted to any other fish or animals.
If you ever need to report anything to the Environment Agency please use our incident hotline on 0800 807060.
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