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Site aims to debunk crayfish myths

James Savage
James Savage - [email protected]
Site aims to debunk crayfish myths

In an attempt to debunk the myths surrounding those small, nasty, clawed creatures from the deeps of Sweden’s lakes and streams, the Swedish National Board of Fisheries has set up a new site focusing on the crayfish.

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Do crayfish only crawl backwards? Can you farm crayfish without permission? Are Swedish noble crayfish doomed to extinction?

All of these answers are explained (in Swedish) at www.krafta with the help of a small claw-like cursor.

Test your crayfish knowledge on 13 myths.

“There are so many myths surrounding crayfish and how the crayfish disease spreads, and this site is a way for us to have some fun with that,” said Erik Petersson, a researcher with the Board, according to Svenska Dagbladet.

“At the same time there is a serious side — the illegal farming of American crayfish among the noble crayfish is a big problem that causes the crayfish virus to spread.

Sweden began importing crayfish from America in the 1960s, a time when local stocks of noble crayfish were diminishing. Disease came with the foreign species and has plagued local waters ever since.

“Most don’t know about this and toss the American species into the water with the local noble species causing the noble crayfish to die out,” Petersson said.”

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