Procambarus crayfish control: Trapping and removal

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    40%
  • Certainty
    60%
  • Harms
    0%

Key messages

  • One controlled, replicated study in Italy found that baiting traps with food (tinned meat) trapped the most red swamp crayfish compared to the use of male and female pheromones or the control (no bait). Over half of all crayfish caught were found in traps baited with food.

 

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

  1. A controlled, replicated study conducted in 2006 in canals in Italy (Aquiloni & Gherardi 2010) found that food-baited traps were successful in capturing red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii. Of 282 crayfish caught using different bait types, over half were captured in food-baited traps compared with traps containing male or female crayfish and a control treatment (no bait). A total of 72 traps were set three metres apart and randomly assigned one of four bait treatments: no bait, tinned meat (food), male crayfish, or female crayfish. Bait crayfish were kept inside a wire netting box inside the traps to prevent them from mating with trapped individuals. The traps were checked after two days. The sex of each trapped crayfish was determined.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Aldridge, D., Ockendon, N., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Some Aspects of Control of Freshwater Invasive Species. Pages 555-87 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species
Control of Freshwater Invasive Species

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species - Published 2017

Control of Freshwater Invasive Species Synopsis

What Works 2021 cover

What Works in Conservation

What Works in Conservation provides expert assessments of the effectiveness of actions, based on summarised evidence, in synopses. Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.

More about What Works in Conservation

Download free PDF or purchase
The Conservation Evidence Journal

The Conservation Evidence Journal

An online, free to publish in, open-access journal publishing results from research and projects that test the effectiveness of conservation actions.

Read the latest volume: Volume 21

Go to the CE Journal

Discover more on our blog

Our blog contains the latest news and updates from the Conservation Evidence team, the Conservation Evidence Journal, and our global partners in evidence-based conservation.


Who uses Conservation Evidence?

Meet some of the evidence champions

Endangered Landscape ProgrammeRed List Champion - Arc Kent Wildlife Trust The Rufford Foundation Save the Frogs - Ghana Mauritian Wildlife Supporting Conservation Leaders
Sustainability Dashboard National Biodiversity Network Frog Life The international journey of Conservation - Oryx Cool Farm Alliance UNEP AWFA Bat Conservation InternationalPeople trust for endangered species Vincet Wildlife Trust