The Crayfish Question

August 22, 2025·42 min·3 clips

Comedian Zara Gladman reveals how invasive crayfish threaten Atlantic salmon and endangered freshwater pearl mussels.

The question starts simply. If invasive shellfish are out there in their millions, and they taste good, why not catch them, cook them, and keep going? Sheila Dillon lets that tempting idea breathe, then tests it properly. One guest lays out control methods that go far beyond the kitchen, including electrofishing, sterile males, and genetic changes aimed at disrupting breeding. The scale changes the feel of the whole story. By the account heard here, the UK spread is already so wide that stopping further movement matters more than dreaming of a clean wipeout. Then the programme takes a sideways turn. Comedian Zara Gladman explains how she folded crayfish facts into a performance shaped by her love of pop divas such as Lady Gaga. It is funny, but it is not filler. The bit shows how public understanding can move through odd, memorable forms without making the ecological problem feel cute or small. The riverside story lands harder. Dillon looks back at the Kennet Crayfish Company, shortlisted in the BBC Food and Farming Awards for Best Producer and licensed by DEFRA to catch and sell signal crayfish. They did not win, but the food stuck with her, and so did the question. She returns with Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, where Andrew Leach receives them at his small production unit beside the River Kennet. The chalk stream runs from Wiltshire toward the Thames near Reading. It is still described as famed for purity, but drought has brought it low, changing the conditions around the catch. That is where the episode finds its best tension: craft, policy, appetite, and a river that will not be fixed by dinner alone. The programme is warm, but not soft. It enjoys the comedy and the cooking while keeping the environmental limit in view.

As heard by us

A smart, appetising look at whether the UK's invasive signal crayfish can be eaten into retreat.

The American signal crayfish gives The Food Programme a neat, uneasy question: if an invasive shellfish is crowding UK waters and tastes good, why not eat it down? Sheila Dillon keeps the answer grounded.

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A river-level food story about eating an invasive crustacean before it eats more waterways.

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