White-Clawed Crayfish
The white-clawed crayfish (Austopotamobious pallipes) is Britain’s only native crayfish. Crayfish can be found in brooks, streams, rivers, reservoirs and quarries. The white-clawed crayfish has seen a rapid decline over the last few decades as a result of the introduction of non-native crayfish and disease.
As such, this species is protected under UK and European legislation and, therefore, if works are planned in or close to a watercourse it is important to determine whether this species will be affected.
FPCR have a team of specialist licensed surveyors that can use a variety of methods to determine whether white-clawed crayfish are present and the likely impacts of a scheme.
We have experience of projects of varying scales and our clients include local authorities, house builders and small scale development companies. In providing ecologically sound and cost effective strategies for our clients we have successfully implemented mitigation both under licence and using risk assessment and avoidance measures.
Our services include:
- Desk and field based scoping / constraints surveys throughout the year.
- Manual surveys (presence / absence), normally between the end of June and end of September.
- Nocturnal torch surveys (presence / absence), April to October.
- Trapping surveys, normally between the end of June and end of September.
- Reporting of field surveys including the design of detailed mitigation and compensation strategies, Risk Assessments in relation to proposed operations, Working Method Statements.
- Liaison with planning authorities and consultees on potential impacts and proposed mitigation strategies.
- Production of licence application documents.
- Implementation of all aspects of proposed mitigation using specialist licensed white-clawed crayfish Ecological Clerks of Works.