I’ve found this invasive species of crayfish in the canals in Den Haag, is it legal to catch and eat them?

35 comments
  1. it’s not legal to have them in your possesion while alive, so you have to kill them when you catch them. Not sure if you are allowed to just catch them or if you need a fishing license for that. Once you have one, you’re not allowed to put it back… it’s a bit of a weird legal situation sometimes.

  2. If I’m not mistaken this is the Amerikaanse rivierkreeft. They’ve become a plague in the Dutch sweet waters, so you’re very welcome to help getting rid of them.

  3. Looks like an american crayfish, which is an invasive species. You should have no worry to bring it home and cook it if you find it, you’ll be helping the enviroment. Fishing for them with nets might be a bit much.

    I’ve considered bringing them home to eat as well, they are a delicacy. But I don’t want to fish for them. And I’ve been told you need a good number of them to make a decent meal.

  4. As far as I know you can catch them legally as long as you don’t do it commercially (eg. a restaurant that catches them to sell them). Off course it’s legal to eat them.

  5. No, you’re not allowed to bring them home, as that may aid to their spread (one could escape). They are delicious though, so if you want to risk eat, bon appetite.

  6. Eat or kill as many as you want. They’re a plague!
    You can really eat them though, but keep them in clean water for a few days. This will clean them internally.

  7. Yeah you can. But apperently they are about 80% shell, so it is a lot of work for a small bite.

  8. You shouldn’t, don’t kill animals when you can eat anything else, imagine minding your business and being pulled into the water and then getting killed.

  9. Only legal to catch with a fishing pole and fishing license. You can’t legally transport them alive so you’ll have to kill them before taking them home. After boiling, make sure you remove the dark stripe that runs along the top of the tail, it’s poop … because you had to kill them instead of keeping them alive for a day or so.

  10. They are very tasty but let them sit in clear fresh water so they can empty their bowels but some crayfish can carry a form of hapitatis

  11. Ok thank you for the advice people. I will make sure I get my vispas renewed and then I will try to catch as much as I can in order to prepare a yummy crayfish soup, Louisiana style ofc! (bc that’s where they come from). You should do the same, it’s fun and it actually helps the environment!

  12. Even if its not legal to take them home alive and stuff, i dont think anyone is gonna complain fishing on these or give you a fine for it. Get a fishing license And catch as many as you want and kill them, they are hurting the eco system and dont have a natural enemy here.

  13. I wouldn’t eat them man, those canals are pretty filthy, these little crayfish are probably toxic as fuck.

  14. I recently encountered one of these guys on a road next to the Amstel river. Didn’t know they were an invasive species so I threw him back into the river. He was a feisty little lobster, engaged in full en garde mode when I approached him.

  15. Amerikaanse kreeft dacht en Ja het is legaal en je kan het eten maar eerst goed spoelen met water.

  16. The conversations in here about tip-toeing around legality and fishing licenses is absurd. You should kill them because they are evasive, but you should keep them in a tank for a few days or they will taste awful. But you can’t have them alive in the tank and you need a fishing license for one method, but a net is fine. Basically you’re screwed no matter what. Just give up and go to a different country.

  17. The problem is that crayfish have the most to fear from other crayfish: The big ones will eat the small ones. So if people start netting out the big ones, in the end there will be even more of them. That’s why traps and nets are not allowed. It’s a serious problem, since they burrow into the shores and corrode everything.

  18. Louisiana crawfish met some cajun seasoning. Denk wel honderd keer oo youtube gekeken maar nog jioit gegeten. Ben zwaar benieuwd hoe t smaakt

  19. I read into the actual legal texts and my finding are as follows:

    – this is anvasive species as listed by the EU ([dutch version of that list](https://www.nvwa.nl/onderwerpen/invasieve-exoten/unielijst-invasieve-exoten))

    – it is permitted explicitly to move invasive species as part of the extermination

    – as such it is permitted to contribute to its extermination, but this practice is also explicitly subject to the [dutch fishing law](https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0002416/2019-01-01) which defines the act of fishing (for which a permit is necessary) as ‘in any other way to try to obtain the fish (or shellfish) from the water’

    So indeed, you may catch them if you have a permit.

    BUT, if they are out of the water, they’re free game XD

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