Frances Robertson and Kelly Martin head out to the marsh at Westcott Bay to set traps. Photo: Emily Grason
Last week, Crab Team Program Manager, Emily Grason, and Program Assistant, Kelly Martin, conducted a trapping assessment on San Juan Island with Chelsey Buffington and Roy Clark from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). After three days and more than 330 trap sets, one male European green crab (64 mm) was found in Westcott Bay.
Westcott Bay, on the northern end of San Juan Island, is the location of the very first green crab detection in Washington’s Salish Sea in 2016. Since then, over the course of monthly monitoring by Crab Team volunteers and three trapping assessments conducted by Crab Team and WDFW staff, five additional live green crabs have been trapped at this site (including the male trapped last week) and one molt was found. All of these green crabs have been captured within the same channel at Westcott Bay that is monitored as part of the Crab Team network. Despite heavily trapping several nearby sites with suitable habitats, including Henry Island, no other locations have yielded any green crab detections.
European green crab found at Westcott Bay. Photo: Kelly Martin
Last week, Crab Team Program Manager, Emily Grason, and Program Assistant, Kelly Martin, conducted a trapping assessment on San Juan Island with Chelsey Buffington and Roy Clark from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). After three days and more than 330 trap sets, one male European green crab (64 mm) was found in Westcott Bay.
Westcott Bay, on the northern end of San Juan Island, is the location of the very first green crab detection in Washington’s Salish Sea in 2016. Since then, over the course of monthly monitoring by Crab Team volunteers and three trapping assessments conducted by Crab Team and WDFW staff, five additional live green crabs have been trapped at this site (including the male trapped last week) and one molt was found. All of these green crabs have been captured within the same channel at Westcott Bay that is monitored as part of the Crab Team network. Despite heavily trapping several nearby sites with suitable habitats, including Henry Island, no other locations have yielded any green crab detections.
–Emily Grason and Kelly Martin
Erin Holcomb (L) and Mark Donohue (R) heroically carrying huge stacks of traps through the mud. Photo: Emily Grason
Map of Westcott Bay marsh showing trap locations – fukui traps marked in yellow and minnow traps marked in red. Traps were also set at several other sites not shown here, including Henry Island and Davison Head.(Click to enlarge)