©Alex Mustard/2020VISION
Yorkshire Crayfish Forum
Protecting white-clawed crayfish
The Yorkshire Crayfish Forum, hosted by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, is made up of various organisations including government agencies, national parks and conservation charities, all with a passion to protect the remaining white-clawed crayfish populations in Yorkshire. Originally set up as the North Yorkshire Crayfish Forum in 2019, the forum expanded to Yorkshire-wide in 2024 due to interest from other regions in Yorkshire wanting link up conservation efforts.
The forum has an annual meeting once a year to share projects successes, emerging research, and other crayfish related updates. The steering group meets 4 times a year to discuss strategy, work planning and emerging funding opportunities. This facilitates the coordination of crayfish efforts across Yorkshire, promoting communication, collaboration, and partnership development.
Our key aims
- Establish distribution status of white-clawed and invasive alien crayfish, monitor and keep up to date.
- Work collaboratively to prioritise actions, increase efficiency and effectiveness and to maximise resources and impact.
- Stop further spread of invasive alien crayfish and crayfish plague, through improved biosecurity measures and other interventions where effective and practical, to minimise future losses of white-clawed crayfish.
- Ensure that ark sites, waterbodies and catchments with white-clawed crayfish populations are thriving and biosecure
- Ensure that recreational river users and workers are aware of and follow biosecurity/ Check Clean Dry procedures through the delivery of a county-wide biosecurity campaign.
- Promote the importance of white-clawed crayfish and intact river ecosystems through the development and delivery of communication and education strategies.
- Develop a central hub where ideas, resources and expertise are shared and used, and through which we influence regional and national decision-making
How we're protecting white-clawed crayfish
Delivery plan
A 5-year delivery plan (2022 -2027) was created to outline actions to achieve the aims and objectives in the forum’s strategy. The plan pulled together crayfish related projects from across North Yorkshire, identifying how they contribute to achieving the overall strategy and finding gaps where projects need to be developed. The delivery plan is currently being updated to incorporate the whole of Yorkshire.
The delivery plan is now used as a basis for monitoring progress to strategic aims at each forum meeting. It will also be a useful tool for partners to influence decision making and assist in organisations’ funding applications.
Current work and what’s next
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has received further funding from Yorkshire Water until March 2025 to continue work outlined in North Yorkshire Crayfish Forum’s 5 Year Delivery Plan, including hosting of the forum.
Other work includes creation of a communication and engagement strategy, monitoring crayfish populations, and public outreach. Funding from Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme has also been secured until March 2025, focusing on habitat enhancements, ark site creation and setting up a crayfish hatchery.
