Noember 3, 2025 — When a young Sealaska intern walking a beach in July 2022 found the first evidence of European green crab presence in Alaska — a discarded shell on a beach on Annette Island in the state’s far southeast corner — it was an ominous sign about the invasive species’ northward spread.
Since then, the Metlakatla Indian Community, the tribe based on Annette Island, and its partners, which include Alaska Sea Grant, have found not just more shells, but live invasive crabs. Discoveries numbered just a handful at first, then dozens, then hundreds, then thousands.
This year, the Metlakatla tribe’s team has trapped more than 40,000 of them on and around Annette Island, a representative said.