Panic over shrimp

FOR some while large non-native shrimps have been resident in the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, but are spreading to rivers, the latest being the Douglas, and are causing great concern amongst the ecologists.

They have named it the Demon Shrimp, with the Environment Agency joining in warning people using lakes, rivers, ponds and canals across the North West to check, clean and dry their clothes and equipment after every use, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Disrupt the food chain

The problem of course is they eat our native shrimps and insects, with our being told they 'disrupt the food chain and change the dynamic of our rivers and lakes'.

A single such shrimp was found in the Douglas at Parbold Bridge, that connects to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal which is believed to be where it originated. Perhaps boaters should be prepared to do battle.

Real battle

Ecologist Kim Owen from the Environment Agency warned:

"Invasive shrimps such as this species present a major threat to the ecology of our rivers and lakes and we have a real battle on our hands to control their spread. The likelihood is that this species will now be widespread with any links to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and beyond through the canal network."

Concerned

These shrimps have only been seen in this country since 2012, and first noticed in the Severn, and the ecologists are concerned that they are now found so far away from that river and now in Lancashire.

Not to be confused with the equally silly named Killer Shrimp by ecologists, the Demon Shrimp is considered more widespread, with a risk assessment produced by Cambridge University stating that the potential ecological risk from the species is high and there is fear that some of Britain's native shrimp are in danger of being completely eradicated .