By Ryan Teague Beckwith - Daily World Writer, Aberdeen Daily World
OCEAN SHORES - Already making itself at home in Willapa Bay, the feared European green crab has spread to Grays Harbor.
Biologists with the state Department of Fish & Wildlife found 11 of the voracious shellfish predators in Grass Creek just west of Ocean Shores Tuesday morning.
Already hit by water quality problems, oyster growers on the Harbor say the non-native pest is potentially devastating.
"This is certainly a blow to the industry," said Blain Braun, manager of Associated Seafoods in Markham. "It's something we've got to take immediate control of as much as possible."
In early June, research scientists found the discarded shell of a green crab at Leadbetter Point on Willapa Bay. The spread of the exotic species to Willapa Bay was not a surprise, but biologists were caught off guard by the speed with which the crabs had moved up the coast.
An aggressive predator of oysters, clams and mussels, the green crab has been hounding shellfish growers in northern California for years.
Tuesday's find is the farthest north the crabs have been captured in Washington state. The captured crabs measured under two inches and are likely over a year old. The only female of the group was not carrying eggs.
A similar search two weeks ago in the South Bay of Grays Harbor did not turn up any crabs, but biologists say that does not mean there aren't any there.
To try to stem further migration, Fish & Wildlife officials recently made it illegal to possess or transport green crabs in the state. Earlier this month, they put a temporary ban on some kinds of shellfish shipping.
Aside from the Twin Harbors, only Puget Sound is likely to be further impacted by the crab invasion.
Fish & Wildlife officials say they will expand their search over the next few weeks to include more areas in Grays Harbor and Puget Sound.
Green crabs generally live in upper tidal and grassy areas along the waterline, and have a particular fondness for spartina grass, another non-native invader. Unlike native Dungeness crabs, they can withstand a wider range of fresh and saltwater.
Paul LaRiviere, coastal crab manager for Fish & Wildlife, said that might mean they will find Willapa Bay more hospitable. But the crabs found in Grays Harbor were living in bulrushes, a common shoreline plant.
Either way, no one is sure how serious a problem this may be. "That's a real big unknown," LaRiviere said.
"We already have a red rock crab that does some damage," said Mike Linn, manager of the Coast Seafoods Co. plant in Markham. "If this is half as bad as that, we'd have two predators we don't need."
Oysters, which do not naturally live in Grays Harbor, are bred by three growers that collectively employ about 130 people.
In recent years, they have had problems with harvesting shutdowns caused by sewage and wastewater bypasses from the Weyerhaeuser Co. and the city of Aberdeen.
But those shutdowns are only temporary, Associated Seafoods' Braun said. The green crab threatens to become a permanent thorn in the industry's side.
"Of course, we've been around a long time and we've been through a lot of adversity," he said. "Nobody generally panics too much."
Both Braun and Linn said they have no plans right now to change their way of growing oysters. For now, Braun said, their goal is to work closely with the state to track the predators.
Fish & Wildlife's LaRiviere said the agency is looking into seeking help from the Legislature. That could mean money for eradication efforts or simply more study of the crab infestation.
Back to Whats New Index Page
Back to CRC Index Page
Back to Estuary Index Page