Wednesday June 8, 2022
Jefferson Public Radio —
The invasive Northern crayfish was reported for the first time in Oregon last month, in an Ashland waterway that eventually flows into the Rogue River.
Native to the midwest, they can outcompete local crayfish species and prey on endangered salmon and steelhead eggs.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Rick Boatner says his team conducted a survey last week to see the extent of the damage.
“You know, I was disappointed,” Boatner says. “I was hoping they were still just in the Ashland area, but they’re outside of the Ashland area – in Bear Creek, which is part of that system. So they’re moving on down to the Rogue.”