Former Gov. Jay Inslee declared an emergency over the crabs in 2022 due to the threat they pose to the Northwest shellfish industry.<\/p>\n
European green crabs are smaller \u2014 and thus less desirable as seafood \u2014 than native Dungeness crabs, which support the state\u2019s most lucrative commercial fishery. <\/p>\n
Yet the smaller invaders successfully prey on juvenile native crabs. The European green crab is a voracious predator and prolific reproducer, considered one of the world\u2019s most destructive invasive species.<\/p>\n
In addition to Dungeness crabs, European green crabs also eat juvenile salmon and high-value shellfish including oysters, mussels, and clams.<\/p>\n
Washington Sea Grant crab researcher Emily Grason said efforts to find markets for either green crab meat or green crab shells have had little success in Washington. Green crabs are about 60% shell, and methods to cost-effectively separate shell from meat have been elusive. For now, the trapped green crabs mostly become compost.<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791998654_352_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife<\/p>\n
This adult male European green crab was trapped at Deer Harbor, on Washington’s Orcas Island, in June 2026. <\/p>\n
Scientists say the total population of the unwanted invertebrates in Washington is unknown. Trapping only hints at their numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s not hard to imagine the numbers could become worse,\u201d Grason said. \u201cWe are still in the middle of an ongoing invasion that hasn’t necessarily reached any sort of equilibrium.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vast majority of crabs, 1.9 million, were caught in Willapa Bay, with tens of thousands also found in Grays Harbor (192,000) and North Puget Sound (18,000).<\/p>\n
Juvenile green crabs thrive when seawater warms, and Willapa Bay had higher than usual temperatures last winter, said Turner with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.<\/p>\n
![\"University](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791998654_711_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Colin Frank \/ Washington Sea Grant<\/p>\n
University of Washington researcher Jennifer Ruesink, left, and student Bridget Reed trap European green crabs on Willapa Bay near Nahcotta, Washington, on Aug. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
An exceptionally strong El Ni\u00f1o weather pattern has warmed Pacific Ocean surface waters in recent months. Researchers say Washington could have a bumper crop of European green crabs this winter, when El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s effects are expected to peak.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect that we will see an increase in green crab numbers just because, historically, that’s what we’ve seen during El Ni\u00f1o years,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n
State and federal agencies spent at least $8 million fighting the European green crab in Washington in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
![\"Orcas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791998655_778_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Amy Sprenger \/ Washington Sea Grant<\/p>\n
Orcas Island Middle School seventh grader Paxton Erwin holds a European green crab molt he found on the island’s Crescent Beach in May 2026. <\/p>\n
Between professionals and volunteers, some 500 people in Washington set and check traps targeting the green crabs, Grason estimated.<\/p>\n
Orcas Island Middle School seventh-grader Paxton Erwin found the island\u2019s first-known green crab during a marine science class field trip in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bummer to find it because they\u2019re bad for our environment but also kind of good that we know they\u2019re here,\u201d Erwin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a species that’s repeatedly changed the ecology and the economy of marine shorelines around the world,\u201d Grason said. \u201cThis is not a species that we’re going to 100% eradicate in our state in the near future. But slowing down the invasion and figuring out how to best protect resources is worth, I think, a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turner said he has instructed managers to keep an eye out for young green crabs too small for trapping to see if warm waters spreading north with El Ni\u00f1o deliver a new crop of crabs to Washington waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 2 million invasive green crabs were captured in Washington state from July 2025 to June 2026,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-882232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}