Abstract

British Waterways is a public corporation with responsibility for managing approximately 3,200 km of Waterway. Canals can have high ecological value; British Waterways owns 63 SSSI’s, which are statutorily designated sites of national importance. Canals are not ideal habitats for crayfish in terms of the water chemistry but the physical habitat can be extensive and of high quality. Where suitable crayfish habitat is present there are often important populations of Austropotamobius pallipes (Lereboullet). The presence of crayfish in canals has implications for the operational activities of British Waterways. Crayfish rescues are planned and undertaken when maintenance or construction projects threaten crayfish populations. We describe alternative mitigation techniques where particular works are considered likely to damage crayfish habitat. We conclude that it is desirable to monitor both the effectiveness of crayfish rescue activities and the success of habitat enhancement schemes.

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