American Crayfish: A plague disrupting the Netherlands

The American red crayfish is a growing problem in the Netherlands. Since 2010, the population has spread explosively, especially in wetlands such as the peat meadow area. These crayfish eat aquatic plants and fish spawn, greatly reducing biodiversity. Frogs, toads and small fish are disappearing from the waters where the crayfish live.

Besides ecological damage, they pose a great danger to water safety. Their digging behavior weakens banks and dikes, causing meadows to sag and ditches to widen. In some cases, even cows sink through the ground and have to be hoisted out of the water. Water levels are also disrupted because the lobsters dig passages around weirs and dams.

Government must take action

The Delfland Water Board is sounding the alarm and calling on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) to begin active crayfish removal as a matter of urgency. In an urgent letter, Delfland states that the damage is unacceptable and that the cost of restoration should no longer be borne by the region’s residents.

According to Delfland, the government took insufficient action for years, despite the European Exotics Regulation. As a result, complete removal of crayfish is now impossible, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to reduce their numbers to a manageable level. The costs are mounting: 13 million euros are needed in the first year alone to protect aquatic nature.

How do we fight this pest?

Experts advocate a combination of measures:

1. Ecological management – Constructing faintly sloping banks with reeds and aquatic plants makes burrowing more difficult and provides a natural balance. Research shows that seven times fewer crayfish occur in such banks.
2. Active control – The government must facilitate structural road trapping and not leave it solely to professional fishermen. Intensive trapping is necessary to reduce the population.
3. Encourage natural predators – Predators such as pike and grebes can help control lobster numbers.

What role can Craw Fish Farm Holland play?

We believe in sustainable food production and consumption while striving to make a positive contribution to Dutch nature. We see it as our mission to get locally and wild caught crayfish on the menu of the Dutch consumer. In this way the consumer becomes an important link in the solution for the reduction of the American crayfish in Dutch nature. In this way, together we can tackle the problem of American crayfish.