Written question asked by Mark Tami (Labour) on Monday, 31 January 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 February 2011. It was answered by James Paice (Conservative) on Wednesday, 9 February 2011 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Shellfish

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress her Department has made in reducing the incidence of crayfish plague.

Answer: Crayfish plague is not a notifiable disease in England and Wales and is therefore not subject to any formal controls. However, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) does investigate all reported mortalities of crayfish. It also provides advice to other agencies and stakeholders on the most effective ways to contain the disease in the case of a confirmed outbreak. It is believed that most populations of signal crayfish in Great Britain are likely to carry the pathogen causing this disease, and so efforts to prevent the spread of the disease have concentrated on preventing the spread of the carrier species.Outbreaks of crayfish plague have been rare in recent years, but to reduce the risk, several measures have been put in place by the Environment Agency (EA). For example, fish movements are licensed through Section 30' consents: through this licensing procedure, the EA is careful to ensure that fish from waters that contain signal crayfish are not moved to those where native crayfish occur. There is an agreed protocol with Natural England to protect protected wildlife sites containing native crayfish.

Secondary information