Large crayfish turns up in fisherman’s lobster pot
A FISHERMAN had a big surprise when he found a rare and large crayfish in one of his lobster pots.
Recreational fisher Daniel Bourgaize, 35, was out collecting his pots and traps off St Sampson’s earlier this month when he pulled up a pot that was occupied by the first crayfish he had ever seen in a lifetime of fishing.
The magical moment was caught on camera, too, since Mr Bourgaize runs a YouTube channel, Inglorious Fishing, which has more than 16,000 subscribers from all over the world.
‘This was the first one I’d ever caught,’ he said.
The shellfish is also known as the spiny lobster and he said that while they used to be common they are now a rare find in local waters.
‘They catch them in America, New Zealand and Australia,’ he said.
But they were seldom seen locally due to being over-fished in the 1960s and 1970s.
His excitement at the catch can be seen in the video.
‘What a creature... what an absolute beauty,’ he exclaims, holding it up to the camera.
It weighed about 9lb, which although large was some way off the world record of 26lb.
The crayfish joined his other memorable catches of a giant turbot and a blue lobster, which he said had a light blue shell and a brilliant white underside and which his research suggested was one in two million.
While he usually eats his catch, the crayfish was full of eggs so he dropped it back over the side of his boat.
There is no law in the Bailiwick requiring this but Mr Bourgaize has set up an online petition to try and get support for one to be brought in, although he said this had not gone down well with some professional fishermen.
n Watch the moment when Mr Bourgaize caught the crayfish on the Guernsey Press Facebook page while the full video and many others are on his Inglorious Fishing channel at www.youtube.com/IngloriousFishing
