The invasive  European green crab has become a serious problem along Canada’s east coast

The invasive European green crab has become a serious problem along Canada’s east coast
Photo Credit: CBC

A ‘crabby’ experience, eco-tourism in Nova Scotia

Come to beautiful Nova Scotia on Canada’s east coast and catch crabs.

It’s a new project by Parks Canada to deal with the invasive European green crab.

Visitors pay $30, and get a bumpy 20 minute all-terrain vehicle ride down to the shore at Kejimkujik National Park then a rowboat ride out to buoys where the traps are, and then help to haul traps and remove the crabs.

Speaking to CBC reporter Brett Ruskin, Gabrielle Beaulieu, a project manager with Parks Canada said “Not only do they get to see it [the crab population] first-hand in the boats with us, but they can also help reduce the numbers of an invasive species that we’re having issues with,”

Using a locally developed type of trap, a Parks Canada worker removes and counts green crab. now an eco-tourism programme has been created so visitors can take part in helping to remove the invasive crabs.
Using a locally developed type of trap, a Parks Canada worker removes and counts green crab. Now an eco-tourism programme has been created so visitors can take part in helping to remove the invasive crabs. © Brett Ruskin/CBC News)

The crabs are believed to have travelled across the Atlantic in ships ballast, and while they may have been on the American east coast for many decades, their population seems to have exploded in the last few decades and they’ve moved north into Canadian waters.

They are destructive and voracious.

A green crab is seen underwater on eel grass in Little Port Joli Estuary at Kejimkujik National Park Seaside. They rip out the eel grass and other plants which provide habitat for a variety of fish and marine life as well as eating anything their size or smaller.
A green crab is seen underwater on eel grass in Little Port Joli Estuary at Kejimkujik National Park Seaside. They rip out the eel grass and other plants which provide habitat for a variety of fish and marine life as well as eating anything their size or smaller. © Oliver Woods/Parks Canada/Canadian Press

Part of the problem is they chop up the eel grass to get at food  underneath. The eel grass is critical habitat for juvenile fish and other species to hide from predators while they mature.

Officials say the crabs are like clearcutters destroying the habitat for native species. The critters will also eat just about anything up to their own size.  The damage to the eel grass however results in reduction of native marine species and also of shore birds which feed on things like soft shell clams.

Three images of the Little Port Joli estuary and Basin Lake- showing eel grass extent before the green crab arrived, after they arrived, and in 2015 as the capture and removal programme had begun.
Three images of the Little Port Joli estuary and Basin Lake- showing eel grass extent before the green crab arrived, after they arrived, and in 2015 as the capture and removal programme had begun. © Parks Canada

Green crab can produce 175,000 eggs per year

Since 2010, Parks Canada has removed some 2-million of the creatures from the Little Port Joli estuary in Kejimkujik park. However,  one crab can produce up to 175,000 eggs per year, so its an uphill battle

The European green crab has been monitored in Canadian waters since the 1990s and has been systematically changing coastal ecosystems
Showing relative size, the European green crab has been monitored in Canadian waters since the 1990s and has been systematically changing coastal ecosystems © Brett Ruskin/CBC

Food for some, fertilizer for others

The green crab is considered a delicacy in some countries like Portugal and Korea, but not here. The crabs caught here are killed by placing them in fresh water, then chopped up and used either as bait for lobster, or turned into fertilizer.

A Parks Canada scientist has said that if they can be developed into a food item here, it would really help to keep their numbers under control.

 additional information-sources

Categories: Environment & Animal Life, International
Tags: , , , , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.