Report a European Green Crab Sighting

If you believe you have found a European green crab in Washington waters please follow these steps to notify us:

1. Reference our webpage on how to identify European green crabs, and distinguish them from native species. There are several native species of similar size and color.
2. Take several pictures from different angles and distances to aid in confirming the identification. Be sure to place a common object or indicator of scale in the photo, so we can tell how large the crab is. Pictures are necessary and sufficient for verifying the crab’s identity.
3. Leave the crab in place. It is illegal to possess a green crab in the State of Washington without a special permit. But don’t worry, we will follow up quickly if it is a European green crab.
4. Email your photos and detailed location information, geographic coordinates if you have them, to crabteam@uw.edu. We will contact you to if we need additional information.

Thanks for being our “eyes on the beach”!