Economic Value of Potentially Affected
Fisheries / Geographic Distribution (USA): Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) / PSMFC Funded Projects,
Reports / Publications / Links
(USGS Fact Sheet) / Educational
Materials

Species: European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas)

Image by: Greg Jensen, University of Washington

Status

The European green crab (Carcinus maenas)was formally recognized as an Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) by the Federal ANS Task Force in 1998.That same year WashingtonStatemade it illegal to possess or transport European green crabs.

Synopsis

Background: European green crabs were first discovered on the east coast of North America in the early 1800’s (Say 1817). They are native to Europe and northern Africa and were introduced into North America via shipping. Green crabs arrived in California prior to 1990 and, by 2000, had dispersed as far north as Port Eliza on the northern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The potential range of green crabs includes southeast Alaska (Behrens Yamada 2001, Carlton 2003). The green crab is a voracious predator that feeds on many types of organisms, including commercially valuable bivalve mollusks (e.g., clams, oysters, and mussels), polychaetes, and small crustaceans (Cohen et al. 1995).

Economic Value of Fisheries Resources That Could Potentially Be Affected by Green Crabs
Dungeness crab (Cancer magister); 2005 Oregon fisheryvalue (through 2/9/05): $50 Million (ex-vessel value) (Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission 2005)
Production of farmed oysters, mussels, clams, and geoducksin Washington state generates approximately$77 million in sales annually (PCSGA 2003)
Potential losses due to green crab predation on commercial fisheries species in the United Statesare $44 million annually(Lafferty and Kuris 1996)

Scientists, managers and shellfish growers are concerned that increases in the abundance and distribution of this efficient predator and competitor could permanently alter native communities and threaten commercial species such as juvenile Dungeness crab, juvenile flatfish, and bivalves(Lafferty and Kuris 1996, Jamieson et al. 1998). Green crabs have been shown to compete with native juvenile Dungeness crabs and shore crabs (McDonald et al. 2001, Jensen et al. 2002).

On the east coast of North American, green crabs have been associated with the decline in softshell clam (Mya arenaria) landings (Glude 1955, Ropes 1968). Research andobservations on the West Coast have not indicated similar impacts to shellfish. However, green crabs are a relatively new arrival to the west coast, so future effects on native species have yet to be determined.

In California, green crab population densities are highest in TomalesBay and Elkhorn Slough. There is no evidence that green crabs have established populations south of Elkhorn Slough and no records of any green crab presence south of Point Conception. Therefore, central California populations continue to represent the majority of green crabs found along the west coast. These may be the key source of recruits for populations farther north, although this remains to be demonstrated (See Grosholz section below in “PSMFC Funded Green Crab Research”)

Circumstantial evidence suggests that Coos, Yaquina, Netarts, and Tillamook estuaries in Oregon and Willapa Bay, Washington, harbor small self-sustaining populations of green crabs that donot depend on a larval source from California (See YamadaBehrens research section below in “PSMFC Funded Green Crab Research”).

Geographic Distribution (USA): European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas)

PSMFC Funded Projects

I. Project: Status of the European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas)in California Estuaries

Principal Investigator: Ted Grosholz, Department of Environmental Science and Policyand Bodega Marine Laboratory,University of California, Davis, CA 95616Phone: 530-752-9151 FAX: 30-752-3350

Email:

Progress Reports

C:\D Drive\Web Page\PSMFC Progress report and Publications:
1) Status of the European Green Crab California 2003.doc
2) Status of the European Green Crab California 2004.doc

II. Project: European Green Crab Sampling Program for Oregonand WashingtonSummer 2002 to Present.

Investigator: Sylvia Behrens Yamada,Zoology Department, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2914 TEL: 541-737-5345; FAX: 541-737-0501; .

Progress Report

File: webpage/ PSMFC Progress report and Publications/OSU GREEN Monitoring June 2005.doc

Publications

Behrens Yamada, Sylvia, Brett R. Dumbauld, Alex Kalin, Christopher E. Hunt, Ron Figlar-Barnes and Andrea Randall. 2005. Growth and persistence of a recent invader Carcinus maenas in estuaries of the northeastern Pacific. Biological Invasions, 7: 309–321. C:\D Drive\Web Page\PSMFC Progress report and Publications\ green crab yamada bioinv 2005.pdf

Behrens Yamada, Sylvia. 2001. Global Invader: The European Green Crab. OregonStateUniversity, Corvallis, OR. 123 pp. $15.00 (paper). ISBN 1-881826-24-4.

Grosholz,Ted. 1995. Recent biological invasion may hasten invasional meltdown by accelerating historical introductions. Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences,102 (4): 1088-1091. C:\D Drive\Web Page\PSMFC Progress report and Publications\Grosholz PNAS 2005.pdf

LINKS

USGS Fact Sheet
ISSG Fact Sheet

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

Literature Cited

Behrens Yamada, S. 2001. Global Invader: The European Green Crab. 123 pages.

OregonSea Grant, WashingtonSea Grant.

Behrens Yamada, S., B.D. Dumbauldt, A. Kailin, C. Hunt, R. Figlar-Barnes

and A. Randall. 2005. Growth and persistence of the recent invader Carcinus maenas in Pacific Northwest estuaries. Biological Invasions, 7(2): 309-321.

Behrens Yamada, S. and C. Hunt. 2000. The arrival and spread of the European green

crab, Carcinus maenas, in the Pacific Northwest. Dreissena!, 11 (2): 1-7.

Carlton, J.T. and A.N. Cohen. 2003. Episodic global dispersal in shallow water marine

organisms: the case history of the European shore crabs Carcinus maenasand C. aestuarii. Journal of Biogeography, 30: 1809-1820.

Cohen, A.N., J.T. Carlton and M.C. Fountain. 1995. Introduction, dispersal and potentialimpacts of the green crab Carcinus maenas in San Francisco Bay, California. Marine Biology, 122: 225-237.

Glude, J. B. 1955. The effects of temperature and predators on the abundance of the soft- shell clam, Mya arenaria, in New England. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc., 84: 13-26.

OregonDungeness Crab Commission. 2005. Oregon Dungeness Crab Landings (through 4/8/05). Coos BayOregon.

Hunt,C.E. and S. Behrens Yamada. 2003. Biotic resistance experienced by an invasive

crustacean in a temperate estuary. Biological Invasions, 5(1-2): 33-43.

Jamieson, G.S., E.D. Grosholz, D.A. Armstrong and R.W. Elner. 1998. Potential ecological implications for the introduction of the European green crab, Carcinus maenas, (Linnaeus), to British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA. Journal of Natural History, 32: 1587-1598.
Jensen, G.C., P.S. McDonaldand D.A. Armstrong. 2002. East meets west: Competitive

interactions between green crab, Carcinus maenas, and native and introduced shore crab Hemigrapsusspp. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 225: 251-262.

Lafferty, K. and A. Kuris. 1996. Biological control of marine pests. Ecology, 77: 1989-2000.

McDonald, P.S., G.C. Jensen and D.A. Armstrong. 2001. The competitive an predatory

impacts of the nonindigenous crab Carcinus maenas (L.) on early benthic phase Dungeness crab Cancer magister Dana. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 258(1): 38-54.

Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. 2005. Crab harvest off the Charts. Press release of August 15, 2005. Coos Bay, Oregon.

PCSGA (PacificCoast Shellfish Growers Association). 2003. Shellfish Economy: Treasure of the tidelands. Olympia, WA.

Ropes, J. W. 1968. The feeding habits of the green crab, Carcinus maenas. Fish. Bull., 67: 183-203.

Say, T. 1817. An account of the crustacean of the United Stated. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1: 57-63.