The following is an excerpt from WDFW September 26, 2024, News Release regarding a new management plan for the invasive European Green Crab.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has published a new long-term management plan for invasive European Green Crabs (EGC). This harmful shore crab species is a threat to native shellfish, estuary habitats, and eelgrass.
The European Green Crab 2025-2031 Management Plan for Washington represents a year-long collaboration with tribal governments, U.S. Federal agencies, Washington State agencies, shellfish growers, public universities, and additional partners. The plan includes detailed guidance for EGC early-detection monitoring, rapid response and ongoing control trapping, and other efforts across defined management areas and coordination zones for Washington’s Outer Coast and the Salish Sea.
WDFW facilitated development of the EGC management plan under direction from the Washington State Legislature, which appropriated approximately $12 million for EGC management efforts during the 2023-2025 biennium. The EGC plan recommends continued funding, with additional funding provided to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for EGC control on State tidelands. It also recommends increased federal support through reinstatement of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s national Aquatic Invasive Species Program as well as funding from NOAA Fisheries, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other sources.
More than 450,000 EGC have been removed so far in 2024, most from Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor on the southern Washington coast. EGC numbers have decreased significantly in areas of the North Puget Sound Region in recent years due to sustained heavy trapping by WDFW, tribes, shellfish growers, and partners.
The new six-year management plan, which took effect October 1, 2024, replaces an EGC Strategic Action Plan and provides direction over the next three biennia. An interactive map showing management areas with catch counts updated monthly is available on WDFW’s European Green Crab Hub.
If you find a suspected European Green Crab or its shell in Washington, take photos and report it as soon as possible at wdfw.wa.gov/greencrab or through the Washington Invasive Species Council’s Invasives mobile app – Google or Apple. Crab identification guides and resources are available on the European Green Crab online hub and the WDFW EGC webpage.
Photo: WDFW
