Invasive Species — European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas)
Get Involved
Get Involved
Join the Alaska Green Crab Early Detection Monitoring Network
The recent European green crab invasion into Southeast Alaska means community-based early detection monitoring is more important than ever and you can join us! Alaskans from Metlakatla Indian Community and Ketchikan to Izembek National Wildlife Refuge on the Alaska Peninsula engage in beach walks and monthly trapping at nearby beaches and estuaries with the goal of finding early signs of the invasive green crab spreading north and westward from established populations in coastal Washington state, British Columbia, and Southeast Alaska.
Community-based science and monitoring is engagement by local communities in scientific inquiry, and is characterized by place-based knowledge and collective action. Community-based citizen scientists play an essential role in protecting nearshore eelgrass, shellfish, and fish habitats by participating in early detection efforts in coastal Alaska. If you love to harvest crab, clams, scallops, abalone, salmon and herring; get excited by tidepooling, or simply love to walk along your local beaches, then your involvement in our network will be a means to protect the food and cultural resources you care about, as well as minimize impacts to intertidal marine life and their habitats. The monitoring protocols for detecting European green crab are relatively easy. With trapping gear and datasheets provided by ADF&G, coastal community members with an interest in learning and doing are welcome to join our network. Interested? Call the Invasive Species Hotline: 1-877-INVASIV to learn more and get involved.
What You Can Do
- Report a crab you believe to be a European green crab
- Learn how to do beach walk crab carapace molt survey
- Manual for community-based early detection trapping of European green crab in local marine waters.
- Raise awareness about invasive European green crab in your community
Invasive European Green Crab Management Plans
- 2023-2028 Early Detection and Rapid Response Plan for Invasive European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas) in Alaska
- 2009 Early Detection and Rapid Response Plan for the European Green Crab, Carcinus maenas, in Alaska
Webpages and Articles
- Alaska Fish and Wildlife News (2022) European Green Crabs are Here in Alaska: Now What?
- State of Alaska, ADF&G Press Release (2022) First Observation of Invasive European Green Crabs in Alaska at Annette Islands Reserve
- Alaska Fish and Wildlife News (2021) European Green Crab: Will they be the next aquatic invasive species in Alaska?
- Alaska Fish and Wildlife News (2007) Boys Discover New Crab Species in Kachemak Bay: Community Monitoring Provide Bonus Results