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'Suspect there are more': Parks Canada captures invasive crayfish

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Parks Canada officials are looking into how a northern crayfish, listed as an invasive species in Alberta, found its way into Banff National Park.

The invertebrate, which looks like a miniature lobster, does live in ponds and creeks in other areas of the province, but officials were surprised when they were told they could be in the icy waters of Bow Lake.

The discovery brought Parks Canada officials to the area in force and, after approximately a week of searching, they found it.

"We captured a crayfish in one of the minnow traps we had set," said Parks Canada biologist Megan Goudie.

The creature, measuring about eight centimetres long, may be small but can have a huge impact on a fragile ecosystem.

According to the Alberta government's website, northern crayfish like to live in freshwater streams, lakes and rivers with lots of plants, rocks, mud and silt.

They also prefer to be fairly deep – up to 10 metres – so they can withstand an Alberta winter.

Once they're there, the government says the crayfish can impact available food supplies and have negatively impacted the populations of many of Alberta native and endangered species.

As for how the critter got there, it likely got some help from one of the thousands of visitors to the park every year.

(Supplied/Parks Canada)

"We suspect that it was a release from the member of the public," Goudie said, adding it is against the law to have a live one in your possession.

"You're not allowed to have it as bait."

That guideline is also in Alberta's Guide to Sportfishing Regulations, which allows people to harvest crayfish anywhere, other than Beaver River, without a licence by legal means. Those include angling, dip net, seine net, minnow trap and capture by hand.

Once they are out of the water, the guide says the "crayfish must be immediately killed to prevent the spread of this species."

Now, Goudie says Parks Canada has put down a string of traps in the area but, so far, only the one crayfish has been found.

She says she doesn't believe it lived there for more than a few weeks, but that's just an estimate.

"Usually, when we find something like this, there are more. So, while we can hope this is the only one, I would suspect there are more," she said.

Parks Canada asks that anyone who is in the mountain parks and notices a crayfish or any other invasive species in the water to immediately report them.

(With files from Bill Macfarlane)

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