Cray fish traps

[SLC]

On the Grand Union, my wife reported that our boat lost power. I'm not sure what this meant but whatever it wouldn't move forward but she did berth the boat successfully.

I told her to look inside the weed hatch and see if anything was wrapped around the propeller. She had trouble removing the cover so lesson here, service it regularly with the greasey stuff.

We found an unlicensed cray fish net firmly entangled around the prop, metal and all. My wife needed help as we didn't have the correct tool(s) on board.

Questions.  How common are these horrible things? How much trouble do they cause?

Secondly, what is the best tool to remove the offending article? Bolt croppers? What size?

Thanks in advance.

[MtB]

20 minutes ago, SLC said:

We found an unlicensed cray fish net firmly entangled around the prop, metal and all.

 

I'm curious about how you knew was unlicenced.

 

 

Meanwhile over on a crayfish fishing site, there is probably a post saying "Damned unlicenced narrowboat drove over my expensive crayfish trap and ripped it up into little bits and destroyed my catch. How do I stop this happening again?"...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stilllearning]

21 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I'm curious about how you knew was unlicenced.

 

 

Meanwhile over on a crayfish fishing site, there is probably a post saying "Damned unlicenced narrowboat drove over my expensive crayfish trap and ripped it up into little bits and destroyed my catch. How do I stop this happening again?"...

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the trapper only takes these:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_crayfish

then more power to his elbow!

[SLC]

If it was licensed, it would have a tag. It is illegal to use these traps except for scientific purposes. CRT state this too.

It was so well made, that cutters wouldn't work. A mallet and sheer brute force did the trick and the boat is moving.

Now which sites think cray fish traps are legal?

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, SLC said:

Now which sites think cray fish traps are legal?

 

This site seems to think it is legal provided you obtain permission first

 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/permission-to-trap-crayfish-eels-elvers-salmon-and-sea-trout

 

 

[SLC]

You need written permission and CRT make it clear it will only be granted for scientific purposes, I.e. as part of a fisheries plan.

Sadly, as these traps are easily obtainable and too many people do not care about their duties and responsibilities, they can be used with impunity and we are left with the consequences.

Also according to gov website, all traps must be within certain dimensions and have an Environment Agency issued trapping tag attached when in use. This one did not.

Edited June 29 by SLC
Further information on trap requirements.

[LadyG]

My understanding is that The American Crayfish should be trapped and removed, maybe BBQ.

The UK species should be released.

Id not eat anything swimming in a canal.

[Onewheeler]

I've eaten Thames crayfish. They're not great. The river was stuffed with them a few years ago but I've not seen anyone trying to catch them recently.

[smiler]

3 hours ago, SLC said:

You need written permission and CRT make it clear it will only be granted for scientific purposes, I.e. as part of a fisheries plan.

Sadly, as these traps are easily obtainable and too many people do not care about their duties and responsibilities, they can be used with impunity and we are left with the consequences.

Also according to gov website, all traps must be within certain dimensions and have an Environment Agency issued trapping tag attached when in use. This one did not.

To be fair, the trap had probably done a few hundred revolutions round your prop. Maybe the trapping tag broke free? They are only attached with a cable tie normally.

[SLC]

Maybe the tag was removed but the trap should be nowhere near boats.

[Tonka]

24 minutes ago, SLC said:

Maybe the tag was removed but the trap should be nowhere near boats.

Or the boat should be nowhere near traps.

You were moving

Edited June 29 by Tonka
Duplication removed

[SLC]

Traps should not be there, trap picked up at a mooring point as we approached the mooring point. Finally RCR were called out and his cutters wouldn't cut the wire and so it was much physical effort.

None of which answers my first 2 questions! How common, what tool is best suited to incidents like this?

 

[BilgePump]

When I can't get a full hacksaw to something I just use a fine tooth blade for one with a rag wrapped round the end to be held (to protect fingers). Manages to go through 10mm chain with some perseverence. Can only do short stroke cuts at the end closest to hand or it bends but otherwise successful. Could get it through the weedhatch and into the tangled mess. Would that work on a wire loop mesh like shown?

[bizzard]

Oxy-Acetylene works under water,

[ditchcrawler]

The problem with bolt croppers down the weed hatch is opening the jaws due to lack of room, maybe hop in the canal to do it.

[Midnight]

Not common in my 30 years of boating

[Jon57]

37 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

The problem with bolt croppers down the weed hatch is opening the jaws due to lack of room, maybe hop in the canal to do it.

Or get someone who can 😁

[Stroudwater1]

What a nasty foul.  We find a sharp bread knife for fabrics, hacksaw for tougher stuff/ thick tubular plastic or metal or the thick metal borders of mattresses. Possibly useful for car tyres. Stanley knives can have their use too.  Then these Knipex cutters for metal wire or springs probably thicker metal. Brilliant for mattress springs.

 

 https://www.knipex.com/products/cable-and-wire-rope-shears/wire-rope-cutters-forged
 

Ditchcrawler is spot on, bolt croppers are fairly hopeless for most weed hatches as the arms don’t open sufficiently before the hatch restricts opening further to actually get the cutters around the metal. Knipex do smaller ones but I’m not convinced they would open enough without fouling. The problem is that some cuts need to be across the width of the weedhatch. The arms are long and unwieldy underwater too. 
 

Some elastic around the arm and tied to the tool can help avoid loss of them during work... Watch out for Weils too if working under water  and wash carefully afterwards.
 

It’s surprising how many put the results of a foul back on the towpath only for it to dry and blow/ get chucked in again. Keep under deck by the hatch and bin!! Lastly look after other boaters and please carefully yank out floating coats fabrics  plastic bags and potential problems if possible when passing or at locks and bin too. 
 

 

[Jon57]

17 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

What a nasty foul.  We find a sharp bread knife for fabrics, hacksaw for tougher stuff/ thick tubular plastic or metal or the thick metal borders of mattresses. Possibly useful for car tyres. Stanley knives can have their use too.  Then these Knipex cutters for metal wire or springs probably thicker metal. Brilliant for mattress springs.

 

 https://www.knipex.com/products/cable-and-wire-rope-shears/wire-rope-cutters-forged
 

Ditchcrawler is spot on, bolt croppers are fairly hopeless for most weed hatches as the arms don’t open sufficiently before the hatch restricts opening further to actually get the cutters around the metal. Knipex do smaller ones but I’m not convinced they would open enough without fouling. The problem is that some cuts need to be across the width of the weedhatch. The arms are long and unwieldy underwater too. 
 

Some elastic around the arm and tied to the tool can help avoid loss of them during work... Watch out for Weils too if working under water  and wash carefully afterwards.
 

It’s surprising how many put the results of a foul back on the towpath only for it to dry and blow/ get chucked in again. Keep under deck by the hatch and bin!! Lastly look after other boaters and please carefully yank out floating coats fabrics  plastic bags and potential problems if possible when passing or at locks and bin too. 
 

 

Even RCR took 3 hrs to get this lot off. We tied the mattress to the lock landing bollard and informed crt. 

[Stroudwater1]

1 hour ago, Jon57 said:

Even RCR took 3 hrs to get this lot off. We tied the mattress to the lock landing bollard and informed crt. 

Luckily “our” most recent mattress on the Rochdale was more rotted down. 🤣It took around two or three hours too. 

 

A lowered pound can help too, moor on what feels stable but shallow then drain enough to expose a blade of the prop. As I expect RCR did you just have to keep cutting. Hopeless advice if this happens on the BCN main line though, / get carefully towed  to a lock and a pound of short length 

 

 

 

Edited June 30 by Stroudwater1

[Tam & Di]

On 29/06/2024 at 13:00, SLC said:

Questions.  How common are these horrible things? How much trouble do they cause?

Secondly, what is the best tool to remove the offending article? Bolt croppers? What size?

We've been on canals since the 50s - mattresses and such like, and once a length of barbed wire, but never had any problem with these, even with loaded freight boats. We knew someone who fished for cray fish below the overspill weirs in Cassiobury Park, using bits of bacon on a string, but have never knowingly eaten wild ones ourselves.

 

We've never had boats with a weedhatch so it was always a long shaft as a first try, and only getting into the canal as last resort. With the sort of engines we had it was possible to put it into head or stern gear as appropriate and turn the engine over by hand, hopefully allowing the object to unwind while a second person pulled on it. Really final last resort if travelling downhill would be to sit the stern on the cill of a lock and lower the level so one of us could get at the offending object without getting our feet wet. We did have a pair of 24" bolt croppers on board if it came to that. Back in the day we used to be our own health and safety inspectors, but I guess they would not have been happy even at that time had they seen us.  😉

 

[Stroudwater1]

 

Ideally not at 4pm on the Failsworth flight either. It was surprisingly quiet outside the bottom of the lock TBF