Crayfish Monitoring Results
Spokane Riverkeeper volunteers search for crayfish in Hangman Creek at a 2023 collection event.
Native Signal Crayfish collected at a 2022 event.
Mercury is pervasive in our environment and in the Spokane River, along with other heavy metals and pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). You can learn more about the history of toxic substances in the Spokane River here. We've teamed up with scientists from the University of Idaho Water Resources Research Institute to monitor crayfish for mercury. These data will be used for studies that assess crayfish and river health throughout the Columbia River Basin. Check out the data and papers below and keep an eye on our event page for crayfish collection events.
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Data from our crayfish study was used in a recent publication.
Click the photo at left to read the article. Thank you to all the community scientists who helped provide these valuable data!
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Plus, check out theSE results FROM 2022!
Spokane River Crayfish have the lowest mercury concentrations in the region, possibly due to Lake Coeur d’Alene functioning as an upstream sink to catch any mercury.
