An invasive crayfish species has been found in drainage from the Willamette River. This is the first time Ringed crayfish have been discovered this far north. Rick Boatner is the invasive species coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Boatner: "It's at the upper end of the Willamette drainage and if they repeat what they've done down in Southern Oregon, in places like the Rogue, the Umpqua, they're going to quickly become the dominant crayfish species in that system and eventually, probably all the way down."
The non-native species tends to dominate other crayfish populations so this could be bad news for the Signal crayfish in the Willamette system.
Boatner says sightings of the Ringed crayfish should be reported to O.D.F.W. and not returned to the water.
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