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FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS PRESS RELEASE

Volunteers monitor local waters for European Green Crab

posted 05/31/02
The importance of local monitoring efforts increased this week with the announcement of loss of funding for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Green Crab Monitoring program in Puget Sound. As of June 30, 2002, volunteers will be the only ones actively looking for newly dispersed European Green Crabs, an invasive species. Eight volunteers on Orcas, San Juan and Lopez Island are currently conducting monitoring with Friends of the San Juans. Participants include local shellfish growers as well as interested citizens. Additional volunteers and regional non-profits are also participating in the project.

The European green crab is a voracious predator that feeds on many types of organisms, particularly clams, oysters, and mussels. Recent information suggests that European green crabs can out-compete Dungeness crabs for food and habitat. If the European green crab becomes established in Washington, it may have a significant impact on the state's shellfish industries and possibly the Dungeness crab fishery. As an intermediate host of a parasitic worm, it may also indirectly impact the health of local shore birds.

The first documented European green crab on the West Coast of the U.S. was in San Francisco Bay in 1998. Since its discovery in California, the European green crab has spread northward, being observed in Oregon and Washington in 1998 and British Columbia in 1999. It is believed that most regional dispersal occurred through larval transport via ocean currents associated with a large El Nino event. European Green Crabs have not yet been observed in the inland waters of Puget Sound.

Early detection through monitoring is an essential component of managing invasive species. Other actions include prevention (e.g. restrictions on transport) and control efforts in areas where green crabs have been located such Willapa Bay. Protecting Puget Sound and our local waters from the European Green Crab will depend on early discovery of any new infestation through monitoring.

Please contact Tina Whitman, Friends of the San Juans - Environmental Programs Coordinator, to find out how you can help. Call 378-2319 to adopt a beach to monitor today.

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