Is Native Crayfish Conservation a Priority for United States and Canadian Fish and Wildlife Agencies?

Abstract

Crayfish are key organisms in freshwater ecosystems across the United States (USA) and Canada, yet are among their most highly imperiled taxonomic groups. In 1996, a committee of prominent USA crayfish biologists warned of a crayfish imperilment plight and neglect of the fauna by natural resources agencies. It is unclear whether crayfish conservation has been prioritized by those agencies in the intervening decades. Our objective was to evaluate the status of crayfish conservation and management in 50 USA and 13 Canadian fish and wildlife agencies through a telephone survey. Fifty-one percent of agencies employed biologists to conduct crayfish work, mostly in the southern USA, and focused on threats (e.g., invasive species) or species’ distributions and conservation status. Of the 32 agencies working on crayfish, 59% considered them a priority, but 53% acknowledged insufficient funding. The most commonly cited information needs were threats, species compositions (native and introduced), distributions, conservation status assessments, and ecology. We report an encouraging but limited increase in agencies working on crayfish over the past two decades.

Fisheries Volume 48 Number 5 May 2023

“…quadricarinatus ; MDC 2021 ), validating concerns about the potential for pet stores to act as introduction pathways for invasive crayfi shes. For example, there are invasive populations of F. virilis in 33 U.S. states (including parts of Missouri) and three Canadian provinces, P. clarkii in 28 states, P. acutus in 20 states (including parts of Missouri), and P. alleni in 1 state (Stratton and DiStefano 2021 ). Our most encountered species, C .…”

“…Crayfi shes from diverse geographical origins, alien species, and recognized invasive species (Stratton and DiStefano 2021 ) were sold in Missouri and Ohio pet stores, including two species on Missouri ' s prohibited species list ( P . alleni , C .…”

“…patzcuarensis . Invasive populations of C. shufeldtii are documented in six U.S. states (Stratton and DiStefano 2021 ). Faulkes ( 2015b ) also noted that online sites were illegally selling crayfi sh from some U.S. states (e.g., Arizona, Maryland).…”

“…The pet trade has been a major source of global crayfi sh introductions, with more than 120 ornamental crayfi sh species introduced since the late 1990 s (Chucholl 2013 ;Nunes et al 2015 ). However, despite half of U.S. state and Canadian provincial fi sh and wildlife agencies citing invasive crayfi sh as a problem (DiStefano et al 2009 ;Stratton and DiStefano 2021 ), the pet trade pathway has received little attention from natural resource managers and is not monitored like other pathways for invaders (Strecker et al 2011 ).…”

Managing Pathways for Introduction of Alien Crayfish: Evaluation of a Midwestern State's Regulations on the Pet Industry

“…The pet trade has been a major source of global crayfish introductions, with more than 120 ornamental crayfish species introduced since the late 1990 s (Chucholl 2013;Nunes et al 2015). However, despite half of U.S. state and Canadian provincial fish and wildlife agencies citing invasive crayfish as a problem (DiStefano et al 2009;Stratton and DiStefano 2021), the pet trade pathway has received little attention from natural resource managers and is not monitored like other pathways for invaders (Strecker et al 2011).…”