Green Crab Monitoring

Protocol in Focus: Why do we measure native crabs, too?

June 18, 2024

Why Measure Native Species?

When it comes to interactions between crabs, whether of the same species or of differing species, size matters. When crabs run into each other out on tide flats, in lagoons, or channels, they might compete for food or shelter, or they may actually try to prey on each other. In these encounters, the general rule of #CrabLife is that bigger crabs win over smaller crabs. So knowing the size of not only green ...

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Crab Team Welcomes Zach Bengtsson as Student Assistant

May 23, 2024

This winter, WSG Crab Team was joined by a second graduate student assistant, Zach Bengtsson. Zach is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at UW’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences researching stress responses of marine invertebrates. We asked Zach to share some of his story with us to introduce himself to the broader Crab Team community.

What brought you to Crab Team? What interested you in the position?

My current graduate work ...

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2023 Green Crab Status Summary: Part 2 (Coast)

May 7, 2024

Continuing our summary of 2023 green crab status and trends 

Pacific Coast

The momentum and dedication to extensive trapping for European green crab on Washington’s Pacific coastline continued to grow through 2023. Over the course of the year, nearly 355,000 green crabs were removed from the coastal estuaries and shorelines. Let’s take a closer look at what the catch data showed about population status and trends.

Newer sites with high abundances

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2023 Green Crab Status Summary: Part 1 (Inland)

April 10, 2024

While 2023 already seems like an eon ago, last year’s trapping season is still very much on our minds even as we launch the 2024 monitoring effort. The winter is a time for green crab managers to regroup, review data to interpret green crab population patterns and think about strategies for the coming year. In December, WSG hosted our third annual Trapper’s Summit, a day-long workshop for trapping partners all over the state to come and ...

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Protocol in Focus: Why do we measure European green crabs?

November 17, 2023

We are Crab Team after all, so it’s perhaps no surprise that we are not shy about getting up to our elbows in details about the crabs we catch. But what can we actually learn from looking at size data of crabs? What makes handling all the angry pinchers worthwhile? 

We’re covering this rich topic in two issues of Protocol in Focus. This time, we’ll shed light on what we can ...

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Crab Team Welcomes Elyse Kelsey as Student Assistant

September 20, 2023

Hello WSG Crab Team Community!

My name is Elyse Kelsey and I am thrilled to be joining Crab Team as a Student Assistant. I just missed the field season this year but I am excited to meet and work alongside the incredible volunteers and partners that make this work possible next summer! For the next few months, I will be keeping busy by entering data, managing field gear, and offering administrative support from ...

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2022 Season Wrap Up – WA Coast

June 15, 2023

As we dive into the 2023 European green crab trapping season, it’s important to reflect on the insights gained from the coastal green crab populations in 2022. This summary of green crab observations from Washington’s coastal estuaries complements our Inland 2022 wrap-up, rounding out our focus on the trends and patterns observed from green crab trapping results across the state. We pulled from several different data sources to piece together an ...

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Introducing Molt Search

May 1, 2023

WSG and WSU Extension have teamed up to launch a new volunteer-based early detection program to complement the existing Crab Team monitoring network—introducing, Molt Search.

Building on Early Detection Success

Molt search builds on the hard work of Crab Team monitors who have been conducting early detection surveys since 2015. The network has found some of the first generations ...

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Crab Team Welcomes Community Science Specialist

February 9, 2023

Hello Crab Team community!

My name is Lisa Watkins and I’m thrilled to be joining you all as Washington Sea Grant’s new Community Science Specialist. A large part of my role will be to coordinate the Crab Team monitoring network, aiming to make participation–from recruitment and training to data reporting and beyond—as meaningful and smooth-running as possible.

As a network, Crab Team has set a standard of what meaningful, management-relevant community science efforts can look like, and ...

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Crab Team Welcomes Project Assistant and Postdoctoral Fellow

Header Photo: Beautiful early morning field day at Dakota Creek, Drayton Harbor. Crab Team and WDFW staff check a trap. Photo: Leah Robison

October 18, 2022

Hello Washington Sea Grant Crab Team enthusiasts!

I’m very excited to introduce myself as the new Crab Team Early Detection Project Assistant. I’ll be here through the end of the year to help develop a new early detection program aiming to complement your stellar monitoring efforts with a less intensive and ...

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Environmental DNA (Part 4): The Vashon Island Mystery

September 26, 2022

This is the fourth and final in a series of posts on a Crab Team project to develop environmental DNA (eDNA) for use in early detection and management of European green crab. Links to the previous posts are found in the text below.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has recently gained attention as a potential early detection and monitoring tool for green crab, thanks in part to work done by Abby Keller ...

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Crab Team Welcomes Student Assistant

Header Photo: My first time working in mud flats at Fidalgo Bay which involved a mix of getting stuck and lots of fun! Photo: Emily Grason

September 20, 2022

Hello Crab Team enthusiasts! I am excited to introduce myself to you all as the new Crab Team student assistant. These past few months, I have been doing lots of data entry and am so impressed with this team’s work. I have also had the pleasure of ...

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Protocol in Focus: Where does the data go?

August 17, 2022

This year marks Crab Team’s eighth monitoring season, a fact that completely blows our minds. Some of the Crab Team sites have been systematically sampled since we kicked off in August 2015. As this long term ecological dataset grows even longer, it becomes increasingly valuable to look at changes over space and time. 

Lest you start to imagine us swimming in our vault of datasheets like Scrooge McDuck Read More

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