In 2015, Washington Sea Grant Crab Team was established to monitor the Washington portion of the Salish Sea for the invasive European green crab. Since then, our work has expanded to include research, technical assistance, and communications focused on understanding and reducing the spread and impact of this invasive species.
What We Do
Programs
We created and continue to operate two community science programs to track the populations and impacts of green crab. Through both a systematically monitored network, and an app-based model, data from Crab Team community science programs informs green crab management.
Trapper Support
We support green crab trappers and managers including state and federal agencies, tribes, shellfish growers, and other groups. Alongside the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, we provide training to help trappers efficiently and effectively trap green crabs, and consultations to help them refine their green crab management strategies.
Research
We conduct research to improve the management of green crabs and learn about affected habitats. Crab Team provides leadership, collaboration, and resources for research projects that help reduce the impacts of the invasion.
Who We Are
Crab Team is a program of Washington Sea Grant, with support from Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, the Habitat Strategic Initiative, and other partner organizations and scientific collaborators. We also engage the community to help monitor for green crab. This allows us to achieve a much greater scale of monitoring than would otherwise be possible, and expand what we know about the community of organisms that lives in salt marshes and pocket estuaries.
Crab Team Staff
Hannah Brown
Washington Sea Grant
Program Assistant
Walker Hobson
Washington Sea Grant
Student Assistant
Jane Holiday
Washington Sea Grant
Student Assistant
P. Sean McDonald
Program on the Environment School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
Co-Principal Investigator
Follow Our Work
There are many ways to keep up with Crab Team!
Periodic news and information including green crab status updates, program and research news, and deep dives into topics of interest
See where Crab Team has been featured in the media.
Read previous editions of the Crab Team Newsletter, which features stories about green crab and our work.
Read scientific articles, technical publications and summaries from Crab Team monitoring network.
Check out the calendar of training workshops, talks and other crab-related events!
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement PC-00J90701 through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency or the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.