Noble Crayfish

The noble crayfish is a freshwater crayfish native to rivers and lakes across much of Europe, historically the most widely harvested and culturally significant crayfish species on the continent. It has a smooth, robust, olive brown to dark brown shell and can live for well over a decade in suitable habitat. For centuries it supported traditional crayfish harvests and seasonal crayfish feasts across countries including Sweden, Finland, and much of central Europe. Its populations collapsed across large parts of its range following the introduction of crayfish plague, a fungal disease carried without harm by invasive North American crayfish species such as the signal crayfish but lethal to the noble crayfish on contact. Surviving populations are now often isolated in waters that invasive crayfish and the disease they carry have not yet reached, and the species is protected or subject to strict harvest controls across much of its former range. Conservation programs in several European countries now focus on breeding and reintroducing the species into disease free waters.