Last week the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife sent out a press release concerning the detection of the invasive crabs at the Salt Creek Recreation Area by Coastal Watershed Institute, as they were conducting research on nearshore fish.
Because we have not seen press coverage include the very important notice that the State is asking people NOT TO DESTROY crabs, we felt it important to link to the press release in its entirety. The State is conducting extensive response to this issue, and they have set up two ways to report images of suspected invasive crabs for follow-up. Unfortunately named “green” crabs are not always green, and IDing them can be a struggle. Native crabs are often misidentified, and the crabs are killed, which does not help our local ecosystems.
According to the press release, “Reports and photos of suspected EGC can be submitted using the form available at wdfw.wa.gov/greencrab or through the Washington Invasive Species Council’s WA Invasives mobile app. Crab identification guides and resources are available on the European green crab online hub and the WDFW EGC webpage.”
The press release in full can be found here.
Invasive European Green Crabs Found at Salt Creek
