Tag Archives: green crab

Aggressive Crabs From Nova Scotia Migrating to Maine Waters

If you thought the green crabs in Maine were bad, wait until you meet the ones from Nova Scotia. A more aggressive form of the invasive species has been migrating south and is living in Maine waters. The Canadian crabs could make the green crab problem in New England even worse. “They don’t really belong in the Ecosystem here,” said Professor Markus Frederich, who teaches marine science at the University of New England. “They don’t have enough predators, therefore they come in large numbers, and they are amazingly resilient from all kinds of stressors.” >click to read<19:12

Garnish fish harvesters concerned about green crab

Garnish fish harvesters Preston and Tonia Grandy are worried about what an abundance of green crab in the waters of Fortune Bay could mean for the future of the fishery. “It is a bigger issue than I think a lot of people in 3PS realize, because it has only been the last three or four years that we started notice them (green crabs) here,” explained Tonia Grandy. Over that time, she has made other observations in relation to the invasive species.,, She said if green crab are destroying eelgrass as well as eating mussels, clams and scallops, they will have a negative effect on other species. click here to read the story 11:48

Scarborough fishermen try to beat green crab problem to death

Under a sliver of a moon, dressed in hip waders and wearing headlamps or carrying flashlights, they made their way, carrying bats, hockey sticks, ski poles and homemade weapons in search of night-time predators. Their mission: Murder green crabs. About 20 fishermen participated in the June 28 conservation project along the banks of the Jones Creek and Nonesuch River, hoping to kill as many invasive green crabs as possible before the crustaceans prey upon the clams – and the fishermen’s livelihood. The crabs came out at night, as usual, to feed on clams, but on June 28 they were met by the fishermen, who crushed them with their various weapons. Killing the crabs – which do not die easily even when punctured – made a “crunching” sound. click here to read the story 12:01

Hybrid green crab species threatens N.L. lobster – also eat clams, scallops and even each other

They’re fearless. They can live for weeks out of the water. They will eat anything, even each other. “They were born ferocious,” said Cynthia McKenzie, a scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans based in St. John’s. McKenzie is one of a group of researchers who have identified a species of green crab that is ravaging parts of Newfoundland’s south coast. Fishermen in Placentia Bay, on the southeast coast, first noticed green crab in 2007.  “When a lobster spawns … the green crab is there to eat it,” said Clarence Marsh. “I think the green crab got a big effect on the lobsters, and that’s why there’s none here in this bay now.” The green crab are “numerous,” said Marsh, and they don’t stop at eating lobster. He has also found tiny green crabs inside scallop shells. Click here to read the story 10:42

Invasive European green crab found in Dungeness Bay

An invasive crab species scientists and locals feared to find on the North Olympic Peninsula was discovered in traps last week in Dungeness Bay. Staff and volunteers at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge found at least 13 European green crabs in Graveyard Spit across from Dungeness Landing and continue to investigate just how prevalent the species might be there. Emily Grason, program coordinator for Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team, said these are the first of the crab to be found in inland Washington since the crab was captured in August 2016 in Westcott Bay off San Juan Island in Puget Sound. Sea Grant officials say the European green crab, a small shore crab measuring up to 4 inches across, is native to the Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea and is known for damaging the soft-shell clam industry in Maine. click> It will eat clams, oysters, mussels and marine worms, and is potentially harmful to birds and small crustaceans. click here to read the story 10:12

Invader green crabs from Europe threaten havoc in Puget Sound

20160914_gd_green_crab-550x440Emily Grason and Sean McDonald trudge through the mud of San Juan Island’s Westcott Bay on the hunt for something they hope not to find: A 3-inch menace: the European green crab. In late August, a single adult male was found for the first time in Washington’s inland sea. University of Washington researchers responded, arriving at the location of that first sighting  with hundreds of traps in tow. “It might seem like it’s crazy for us to have such an intense trapping effort for just a single crab being found. One crab, what’s the big deal?” says Emily Grason, project coordinator for the Washington Sea Grant Crab Team. “But these crabs do tend to show up in numbers and where there’s one, there’s often more.” Video, read the story here 17:24

Invasive green crab population reaches record high in Shediac Bay

green-crabsThe population of green crabs in Shediac Bay has exploded this year, says Jim Weldon, of the Shediac Bay Watershed Association. Weldon, the green crab project manager, has been monitoring numbers of the aggressive invasive species since 2013. “This is the highest numbers we’ve ever seen,” he said. Weldon attributes the harsh winter of 2014 with keeping numbers at bay last year. “The ice was thick, the crabs that were hibernating in the mud were crushed, the numbers were way down.” The aggressive invasive crustacean can wreak havoc on eelgrass beds that provide shelter to other aquatic life. “They are going to go after the seed populations of mussels, oysters, quahogs and anything that is small enough that they can open.” Read the story here 12:59

A possible resurgence of invasive green crabs poses a threat to Casco Bay’s soft-shell clams

860780_945412-20160421_Clams002Soft-shell clams are a summer tradition around Casco Bay, both for the tourists and residents who love steamers and for the clam diggers who turn long, backbreaking hours on the mud flats into cold, hard cash. But an infestation of invasive green crabs ravaged juvenile clam stocks in the past four years, adding to ecological changes, competition for coastal access and other pressures facing the state’s second most valuable fishery. Clam landings in the Casco Bay communities of Freeport, Harpswell and Brunswick, some of the state’s leading clam producers, plummeted to historic lows in 2015, and the scarcity of soft-shell clams contributed to all-time high prices. Read the rest here 09:21

Fisherman-invented trap controlling Green Crab “cockroaches of the sea,” says Parks Canada scientist

green-crabsA researcher who spent years removing millions of green crab from a Nova Scotia estuary says evicting some of the cantankerous crustaceans has proven effective in controlling an invasive species that has wreaked havoc on marine ecosystems around the world. Known as the “cockroach of the sea,” the green crab can decimate marine environments as it reproduces quickly, mows down eelgrass with its claws and devours just about any species it comes across that’s comparable in size or smaller. “They can upset entire ecosystems. They cause cascading problems,” said Chris McCarthy, a Parks Canada scientist at Kejimkujik National Park. Read the rest here 19:55

Green crab pathogen research raises concern for Nova Scotia lobster industry

New research is raising more concerns about the potential transfer of diseases from the invasive green crab to lobster in Nova Scotia waters. “Our worry is there could be a pathogen transfer and it could damage our lobster industry. We are finding at least two pathogens of concern,” research scientist Fraser Clark says. He adds human health is not at risk. Clark released a study earlier this year showing high levels of a parasite in green crab is being found in areas of southern Nova Scotia where the crab has been introduced as a lobster bait. Read the rest here 08:50

Green crab parasite may be death of lobsters

Results of a study published last week show a parasite is being transferred from green crab bait to lobsters, and more results on another parasite, a bacterium and a virus are expected in the next few months. The scientists found the Profilicollis botulus parasite in lobsters taken from traps that used green crab as bait, said Stewart-Clarke. They looked at more than 700 lobsters and found, in some cases, 70 per cent of lobsters were infected. In lobsters caught using other bait, none of the parasites were found. Read the rest here 08:42

Green Crab found near Pool’s Cove – Could be a serious issue in Fortune Bay

According to Cynthia McKenzie, a research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans, the green crab has established a foothold in the Pool’s Cove area of Fortune Bay. She said DFO issued experimental licenses to the Conne River Band and a group in Pool’s Cove this past summer to catch green crab. Read the rest here 09:59

Green crab shell secret cracked

Because they all seem to moult together, they all spend about 24 hours in a vulnerable but more docile state before the new shells harden. The strategy for fishermen would be to catch the crabs just before moulting. Then processors could manipulate the water temperature to try to trigger moulting, and sort crabs for processing as they cast their hard shells. Read the rest here 10:34

Green crab may soon be a diner’s delight?, or is Academia really in touch with reallity?

Finding ways to harvest and market the destructive green crab as a delicacy to reduce the crustacean’s impact on the the local shellfish industry is being investigated by the University of Prince Edward Island.  Fertilizer. Geez. Read the rest here 23:07

Fisheries and Oceans Canada wants to create a commercial green crab fishery on Prince Edward Island.

CBC_News_logoIn order to get one of the 22 green crab licences, fishermen need to trade in an eel licence. Eels are a threatened species. “Real potential for a green crab fishery in the east end of the Island,” said Beach Point fisherman Wendell MacKenzie. Read more here  07:27

Battle plans for green crab – Tarr, stakeholders see growing threat to shellfish

gdt iconThe invasive green crab — and how to stop its devastation of the state’s shellfish industry — is drawing new calls to arms among the industry’s stakeholders and others. Read more here   04:12

How to solve Maine’s green crab problem? Sell them, eat them, CEO says – BDN Video

“We are going to take that invasive species and turn it into gold,” said Ron Howse, president and CEO of the Tidalwater Seafood Co., based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Read more@portlandpress  10:12

Canadian businessman wants to put Maine green crabs on global menu – Bangor Daily News  20:29

It’s a War! Crab vs. clam: A battle to the death

The green crab has long been an enemy of clammers in New England. Originating in  the British Isles, it is thought that they arrived in the holds/ballast of ships  sometime around the time of the U.S. Civil War. “They multiply by the tens of thousands” says Ipswich Clam Constable Scott  LaPreste. “Last year we took out 10 tons of green crabs from just one area,  Eagle Hill Cove.” more@wickedlocal  13:04

“They’ll eat anything.” Newfoundland – The green crab invasion

Port Saunders fisherman Eugene Caines has been monitoring the green crab invasion for the last few years. The European species was first detected in Newfoundland back in 2007, and has had a tremendous effect on the Placentia Bay ecosystem. Because of the crab’s invasive and aggressive nature, Caines feared they would move into Northern Peninsula waters. Now his concerns are a reality and he’s got the proof in a five-gallon bucket. more@thetelegram 12:09