The Krimpenerwaard is plagued by tens of millions of crayfish, which cause great damage. Fifteen governments and organizations in the South Holland region are therefore calling on Minister Piet Adema for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) to act urgently.
Exotic beasts are a serious pest and need to be fought on a large scale as soon as possible. It’s a Thursday fire letter that governments and organizations have sent to Adema.
Two water bodies, the province of South Holland, municipalities and nature organisations, among others, have concluded that the measures taken so far against crayfish are not working. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is responsible for combating this problem.
Professional fishermen have been able to fish lobster commercially since 2016, but that hasn’t helped enough. There are also various experiments to catch lobsters but they too fail. “The population has grown explosively in recent years,” the water managers said.
The exotic crayfish ended up in Dutch waters because people emptied their aquarium into ditches. Shrimps dig tunnels and burrows, making the ground along the water unstable and allowing it to subside.
The beasts reproduce quickly and devour entire bare ditches in a short time. According to the authors of the letter, the amount of aquatic plants in the Krimpenerwaard has decreased dramatically and the biodiversity in the water is under threat.
