Green crabs are arguably the most invasive and harmful species on the New England coast. They ruin fishing areas, marine ecosystems, and overtake other crab species either by eating all the food or eating the other crabs. These crabs have been a problem for 200 years when they were brought to the US by European merchant ships, but in recent years they have become disastrous to marine ecosystems. They were first introduced in the West Coast then spread all over the world through currents. They are the most invasive and harmful along New England's coasts but have also caused some harm to the West Coast.
These crabs are such a problem that people on the coast are getting creative with using the crabs. Because the crabs are smaller and have less meat they aren't the best crabs to eat. They also are hard to harvest until one specific part of their life cycle so harvesting these crabs is very difficult.
Scientists are collaborating with the public to keep track of the crabs. Green crabs are easy to identify. They have five spines on the front of their shell. They are not always green. Sometimes the shells can be a dark red or brown color. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has created a form to fill out and a map to pinpoint your location so that the invasion of green crabs, the habitats they reside in, the number of crabs, and their size can be recorded. The University of New Hampshire is also asking the public to collect and record data about green crabs. They are using a New Hampshire Sea Grant which funds many projects to help use research to solve problems and make the world a better place for the next generation.
One of the most creative ways the crabs are being used is whiskey. Tamworth Distilling's Crab Trapper is a whiskey that is made with crab stock from green crabs. One pound of crabs makes one bottle of whiskey. Tamworth Distilling is owned by Will Robinson who says the crabs are prepared and cleaned like any other crab you would order at a restaurant. Then the crabs were turned into crab stock and distilled like any other whiskey making process. One distillery won't make a difference in the damage that is being caused by these crabs, but definitely is a new and exciting way to use these invasive crustaceans.
Even though green crabs aren't easy or common to eat they are becoming more common to eat. Cookbooks for green crab recipes are becoming more popular. “From Problem to Plate '' is the phrase greencrab.org, one of the main producers of these cook books and recipes, uses to promote the use of green crabs. They have many restaurants all over the coasts of the US.
Green crabs, along with many invasive species, need to be recorded and tracked. Destroying ecosystems means that a lot of species could go extinct. Entire ecosystems that could fail and take jobs, food, and research away from the world. Preventing invasive species has been something that scientists and officials are working on. Many states have laws that prevent certain organic material from entering the state. No wood can be brought into Maine because of the fear that parasites from the wood could ruin Maines huge amount of woodlands. There are many ways that a lot of people are helping limit green crabs and you can help too. If you visit a coastline in the US and see some green carbs, report it. Great Green Crab Hunt and Alaska Department of Fish and Game are two of the groups that are collecting data to help with green crabs.
Works Cited
GreenCrab.org, https://www.greencrab.org/. Accessed 22 June 2024.
“Great Green Crab Hunt.” Anecdata, https://www.anecdata.org/projects/view/521. Accessed 22 June 2024.
“Invasive Green Crab: Look Out | NOAA Fisheries.” NOAA Fisheries, 23 May 2023, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/habitat-conservation/look-out-invasive-crab#report-it! Accessed 22 June 2024.
McNamee, Kai. “How a New Hampshire distillery is fighting invasive green crabs — with whiskey.” NPR, 11 July 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/07/11/1110541257/invasive-green-crabs-whiskey-new-hampshire. Accessed 22 June 2024.
“NH Green Crab Project
| New Hampshire Sea Grant.” New Hampshire Sea Grant, https://seagrant.unh.edu/our-work/invasive-species/nh-green-crab-project. Accessed 22 June 2024.
“What is Sea Grant? | New Hampshire Sea Grant.” New Hampshire Sea Grant, https://seagrant.unh.edu/about/sea-grant. Accessed 22 June 2024.