AAe are able to offer expertise and advice if white clawed crayfish are thought to be present on a development site. White-clawed crayfish live in rivers, streams, canals and quarry pools and are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). Development or repair works may cause damage to populations, and so may require survey under licence.
AAe are experienced in a range of field surveying techniques including:
- manual searching (when the water is clear and the flow is low)
- hand-netting
- night searching by torch (when water is deep and slow-moving, or in pools which are too deep to search by hand)
- trapping using a baited plastic mesh trap approved by the Environment Agency (when water is too deep or cloudy for manual searches)
Our ecologists are also able to advise on applying for licence to survey for crayfish if handling them is necessary. They can also provide an assessment on the impacts of a development on crayfish populations and offer practical and cost-effective mitigation and compensation methods if necessary.
