Freshwater crayfish in Lithuania. I: Action plan for crayfish management. II: Status report.

The aim of the project «Crayfish management in Lithuania» has been to improve the basis for a sound management of the crayfish resource. The management plan consists of three parts, an action plan and a status report (which make up the present report) and a data base containing all available information on Lithuanian crayfish stocks. Main objectives for the crayfish management in Lithuania should be: 1) protection and enhancement of the native noble crayfish, and 2) sustainable exploitation of the crayfish stocks. Major threats to the four Lithuanian crayfish species are pollution and physical habitat deterioration. For the noble and narrow-clawed crayfish, the major threat is the spread of the introduced, plague-resistant signal and spiny-cheek crayfish. The action plan focuses on five main categories of action: 1) species-specific management, 2) adoption of necessary legislation, 3) enhancement 4) mapping and monitoring and 5) research.