Men fined in court for illegal crayfish trapping in Derby

Police found crates and wire used to make the crayfish traps in a van

Two men have been fined in court for illegally fishing for crayfish in Derby.

Xiao Chaun Zhang and Weiqui Lui were spotted by police near St Mary's Bridge on the River Derwent at about midnight on 23 July 2019.

The pair were seen by officers throwing traps in the river, the Environment Agency said.

Zhang and Lui, both from Nottingham, were fined at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The agency said some signal crayfish had been caught, and a chicken carcass - which was being used as bait - was also found.

The defendants had modified crates to make traps to catch signal crayfish, an agency spokesperson added.

'Deterrent'

According to the public body, the trapping of crayfish for human consumption is banned as it can cause the spread of disease, known as crayfish plaque.

Trapping can cause the spread of plaque from invasive signal crayfish to native white claw crayfish, which is fatal to the latter.

Zhang, 41, of Prospect Road, was fined £400 and ordered to pay a £40 victim surcharge and £650 costs.

Lui, 39, of Alfreton Road, was fined £233 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £33 and costs of £650.

A spokesperson for the agency said: "We hope the high penalty will act as a deterrent to anyone who is thinking of fishing for crayfish.

"Money raised from fishing licence sales is used to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries, benefitting anglers and, for those caught cheating the system, we will always prosecute."