Tag Archives: Green crabs
Nature is not a Whore!!!
We have incredible fishing grounds on our East Coast!!! Why destroy a renewable sustainable Resource??? Molesting these grounds by dumping massive amounts of construction materials on them is insane!!! Keep in mind the many rules the EPA has against ocean dumping!!! Not to mention the likely hood of them turning into a Dumping Ground after they become useless… Out of sight out of mind!!! What wonderful habitat the Turbine bases will make for the Green Crabs ocean Locust!!! We can’t forget about the Whales… The European Wind Farms do not see a significant Whale migration… What aren’t they saying??? >click to read< 09:41
Ipswich editorial: Green crabs – Time to chomp down on the threat
They look so small and creepy, almost like tarantulas — about the size of a palm, with their legs and two front pincers wriggling. It’s hard to imagine the crabs could destroy a multi-million dollar local businesses and the 20,000-acre Great Marsh, spawning grounds for many local fish. But the green crabs can. More importantly, the voracious, invasive green crabs are. The crabs destroy both the Great Marsh — because they uproot the eel grass that anchors the marsh — and fisheries, such as the clamming industry, oystering and even lobstering because the crabs eat clams, oysters and juvenile lobsters. >click to read<14:07
“Recipe For Disaster” – Filmmaker documents ravages of green crabs
More than a year ago, Gloucester filmmaker Nubar Alexanian laid out his airtight case against the rapacious European green crabs for Bruce Tarr and the incredulous state lawmaker had a suitable response: “There’s a horror movie happening in my district and I didn’t even know about it,” Tarr told Alexanian. As Alexanian’s new documentary short film, “Recipe For Disaster,” makes clear, the call is coming from inside the Great Marsh, which stretches from Gloucester to the New Hampshire border. “In the film, we say there are millions and millions of the green crabs here already,” Alexanian said. “Now I would say it’s billions and billions.” Watch the video trailer. >click to read<17:44
Why Green Crabs Are Invading the East Coast
In the Gulf of Maine, as elsewhere in the world, many species are feeling the pressure brought on by climate change. A changing environment makes them more susceptible to one existential threat: invasive species. This, in turn, is having a huge impact on the local fishing industry that employs tens of thousands of people in the area, and provides seafood to the local restaurants that Maine is famous for. In short, the health of the Maine economy largely depends on the health of the Gulf of Maine, and the marine species that have made it their home. But invasive species like green crabs are coming in and wreaking havoc. Foreign species are defined as invasive when they cause the displacement of an endemic one. In the Gulf of Maine, that includes eelgrass, blue mussels, oysters, and many other types of shellfish. Invaders disrupt the trophic hierarchy,, Read the story here 15:35
Wearing Rose Colored Glasses on P.E.I. – High hopes that Invasive green crabs could become lucrative commercial fishery
P.E.I.’s first commercial green crab fishery is underway. Fourteen fishermen have been granted licences from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to fish this invasive species until mid-November. Not a lot of green crab has been landed so far. Fishermen believe the two recent harsh winters have knocked numbers down. Luke Poirier says chefs have been making the crab into a single-bite appetizer using Cajun-style spices. He believes a successful soft-shelled crab fishery will be established eventually on P.E.I. Read the rest here 09:47
Contentious – An experimental soft-shell clam farm in Georgetown aims to keep green crabs at bay and enrich diggers.
Marching across the clam flats near the head of Heal Eddy, you notice two things.mFirst, both the seafloor and the sea grass meadows on the shoreline are cratered with holes – the work of green crabs, the voracious crustaceans blamed for the widespread destruction of the state’s soft-shell clams. Then you see Chris Warner’s response: five long rows of what appear to be net-covered garden beds, some 70 patches in all, spread across the exposed ocean bottom at the mouth of a 300-foot-wide cove. But the project has been contentious here in Georgetown, Read the rest here 09:28
LePage veto kills bill to find ways to stamp out invasive green crabs – Let’s react to the data!
Essentially, the bill would have restored the closure of certain mudflats to clam and worm harvesting to make way for more data collection. LePage said he didn’t support the bill that originally created the pilot project and vetoed this year’s proposed extension because he believes its continuation is unnecessary. “The pilot project has been conducted and the data has been gathered,” wrote LePage. “Let’s react to the data, not simply continue to extend this pilot ad infinitum.” Read the rest here 15:46
Public Enemy #1: Rule changes put green crabs on Maine’s front burner
There’s a great big target on the backs of predator green crabs now, thanks to rule changes by the Maine Department of Marine Resources that went into effect this week. Read more here 10:09
Ipswich Clammers, officials discuss solutions for devastating green crabs
The obvious solution
They’ve been in the ocean here since the late 1800s, but there is a growing concern about the continued invasion of green crabs and their impact on the region’s clamming industry. “Green crab will eat about anything, especially juvenile shellfish,” said Scott LaPreste, Ipswich’s shellfish constable. “It is our biggest shellfish issue right now,” he said. Read more@salemnews 07:43
Green Crabs in Maine threatening economy, ecosystem; less so in N.H.
Beneath the seemingly calm and tranquil surface of our coastal waters lurk hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the little green creatures. And they are hungry. So what’s the big deal you ask? The problem is, they like to eat what we like to eat; clams, mussels and oysters. Therein lies the dilemma. more@fostersdailydemocrat 08:58
‘Nippy’ green crabs taking bite out of marine eco-system – Scientists, volunteers work to restore habitat
These little crabs have done an astonishing amount of damage to the marine eco-system at Kejimkujik National Park Seaside, formerly known as the Keji Seaside Adjunct, but they’ve also created interesting opportunities. @cronicleherald
Groups planting eelgrass, vital to the survival of many species on Nova Scotia’s south shore while fighting Green Crabs
The two groups are working on transplanting eelgrass beds that have been nearly wiped-out by the invasive European green crab. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the green crab is ranked among the 100 worst alien invasive species worldwide. continued@cbcnews
In Maine, green crabs threaten clamming – green crabs’ population explosion
“They’re consuming everything in the environment, even plants,” said Chad Coffin, president of the Maine Clammers Association, whose group is preparing an all-out offensive against the species. “We may be facing the end of the commercially viable soft-shell (clam) population,” he said. “I think it is dire.” continued
