Around 70 crayfish from the internationally important River Wansbeck population – one of the last remaining strongholds of the species – have been found dead.
Testing has already ruled out the listed disease white spot syndrome virus as well as crayfish plague, and water quality testing has ruled out pollution.
Further testing is being carried out by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) on crayfish taken from affected locations to understand if an infectious aquatic animal disease has caused the deaths.
All evidence presently points to the mortalities only affecting white clawed crayfish. As such, it is unlikely to cause a risk to humans, pets or other wildlife.
People are now being urged to play their part to help limit the spread of any potential infection to currently unaffected areas.
The Environment Agency – supported by other members of the Northumberland Crayfish Partnership – is working to minimise the impact on the crayfish population.
The public and especially river users are being urged to follow advice to prevent any potential infection from spreading across the catchment, and to other nearby catchments such as the Tyne and Blyth, which also have healthy populations of the native species.
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