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Crayfish nets on the Don
Rob Brownfield:
I see the The River Don Facebook page has a report of a Fyke net being found on an ADAA section and that it was removed by a fishery officer.
I shared that post on several sites, but I have received quite a bit of "feedback" about it.
As pointed out, it is not a Fyke net, but a crayfish trap and clearly baited for crays. It was also pointed out that it is not illegal to fish for crays in Scotland.
I had a look through the Don protection order and it does indeed seem that there is no legislation to stop someone using such a trap.
I believe that the Loch Ken area has a free permit available for crays, and that you must submit a catch return, but that's about it.
I also found some suggestions that there are red signal crays in the Don
Any thoughts on the matter?
Hamish Young:
The thing here is still permissions, you need permission to set the traps.
Fyke net (or not), Crayfish trap (or not) the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003 states (Part 1, Methods of fishing, Section 2):
"In any inland waters an owner or occupier may fish for or take freshwater fish, other than trout, by net or trap."
So it is legal, but only if the owner or occupier does it or gives written permission to do so and only if the target species are other than Trout (and obviously Salmon...).
My tuppence.
James Laraway:
I had no idea that there were crayfish in the Don !
I had heard that someone had them in a pond near the Feugh , that the Feugh then flooded leading to the inevitable...... and presumably that means that they will be in the dee also due to that stupid person
I was down fishing a loch that is connected to loch ken by a wee river - and on the banks of the loch guess what - crayfish claws....once they are in a system that seems to be it . No amount of trapping will ever remove them sadly
I think i read they are also in a tributary of the Nairn....
Rob Brownfield:
--- Quote from: Hamish Young on 14/06/2021 at 22:23 ---So it is legal, but only if the owner or occupier does it or gives written permission to do so and only if the target species are other than Trout (and obviously Salmon...).
--- End quote ---
The owner would still need permission from the Scottish Government as a permit is required and the net has to be tagged with an identification number. The permit is free though.
I was more surprised at the amount of abuse I got for suggesting that the traps had been set illegally as there are lots of people who believe that there are no permissions required in Scotland....that is despite me pointing them to the permit application criteria.
Rob Brownfield:
--- Quote from: James Laraway on 15/06/2021 at 09:32 ---I had no idea that there were crayfish in the Don !
--- End quote ---
The Don DSFB say there are not, but several people on various forums where I shared the article have said that they fish for Crayfish in the Don....presumably with no licence as they were adamant that could fish for them.
One thing I have learnt from all this, Crayfish anglers are rather prone to threats and violence!
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