Oregon Public Broadcasting. (2024, January 4). Invasive European green crabs threaten Northwest shellfish industries. Retrieved February 5, 2024, from https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/04/invasive-european-green-crabs-threaten-northwest-shellfish-industries/ 

 

The European Green Crab, originally used as fishing bait by people around the world including the Pacific Northwest has become invasive in many of these places it was used due to its high tolerance for different water temperatures and salinities. In Oregon, where oyster farming is a large part of its economy, European green crabs easily make their way inside the farms and eat the Oysters. This destroys oyster yields, which ruins the local economy. Also, the crabs harm native species by tearing eelgrass, where many native species are, as well as directly killing species like small native Dungeness crabs. To reduce this crab’s negative impact on wildlife and the economy, officials are trapping and finding European green crabs, as well as working on a program to educate people about which crabs are European green crabs and which are not, since not all European green crabs have the same colors. As of now, every person is allowed to catch up to 35 crabs per day, if enough people are educated however, there could be no limit for catching European green crabs, which people are encouraged to take home to eat, dispose of, or use in compost.

With the popularity of eating crabs in America, many of which are endangered species being eaten like the Florida stone crab, getting rid of the European green crab seems like it will be surprisingly easy to do through education while benefiting the economy. If enough people are educated about identifying European green crabs, then they could easily get a license, in the same way, fishing and hunting licenses are handed out by taking a few tests. Then these people could without any catch limit either catch the European green crabs themselves or work for another person or company that uses European green crabs for food to be sold. This benefits the economy as there will be more jobs as well as goods(the crabs) being bought and sold. Also through education and proper marketing, European green crabs can become a more popular food since they have similarities to crabs that are already being eaten throughout America. This is why unlike with issues like invasive cats in Hawaii, I have lots of hope for European green crab populations being reduced significantly in the Pacific Northwest during my lifetime.