Saving Seafood

Volunteers on watch for invasive crab that could threaten Southeast Alaska fisheries

July 19, 2021 — The European green crab might be small, but it can destroy vital habitats for animals all along the food chain. It’s already costing New England shellfisheries million of dollars.

In July 2020, green crab were found in Haida Gwaii, the closest they’ve ever been to Alaska. With the help of volunteers, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game hopes to stay one step ahead of the invasive species.

At low tide at Sandy Beach in Petersburg, Sunny Rice and a group of volunteers walked toward a crab trap — on the lookout for European green crab.

Green crab are small but mighty, measuring around 3 or 4 inches wide. Their shells are a dark, greenish-brown shell with yellow spots, with five triangular points on either side of the eyes.

To check whether the crabs have made it this far north, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has asked volunteer groups to set up traps all over Southeast. Rice is with the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program and wanted to get involved. She and a group of high school students with the Petersburg Indian Association’s natural resource management program set six traps at Sandy Beach and two at Hammer Slough.

Read the full story at KTOO

CALIFORNIA: Monterey Bay fishermen work to reduce chances of whale entanglements

July 13, 2021 — On a cool Thursday morning this week, Calder Deyerle powered up his Boston Whaler and headed out of Moss Landing Harbor in search of the catch of the day. But this catch had no fins or tails or claws. Deyerle was hunting crab gear.

Five or six years ago, more than 70 whales — mostly fin, blue and humpbacks — became caught in the lines that connect a surface buoy to the crab trap resting on the ocean floor. Because of a crash in the krill population, the whales came in closer to shore to feed on alternative food sources and right into the crab lines.

Lines and traps meant for Dungeness crabs can be deadly to whales that become ensnared in the equipment, often causing dehydration, infected wounds, breathing or reproduction problems and even starvation.

But efforts by Dungeness crab fishermen have dramatically reduced the number of whale entanglements. There have been none this year. The far greater threat to whales today is not from crab gear, rather from ship strikes.

Deyerle is one of nine Monterey Bay commercial fishermen who are contributing to a project called the Lost Gear Recovery Project that is coordinated by the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, which in turn is permitted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read the full story at the Monterey Herald

Crab Supply Pricing Out Delaware Restaurants as Some Crabbers Find Success Another Way

June 17, 2021 — For many Delaware families, summer means picnic tables full of steamed blue claw crabs or crab cake dinners at a favorite restaurant. But this summer, those same crabs will cost much higher prices, if you can find them at all while dining out.

Mrs. Robino’s, an Italian restaurant in Wilmington, for example, has temporarily cancelled their popular Thursday crab nights because of problems getting enough crab meat and the cost with the crab they can get their hands on.

“Now, it’s to the point where it’s just so expensive, it’s like tripled in price just about,” Andrea Wakefield of Mrs. Robino’s said.

Two issues are playing havoc with blue crab in Delaware: supply chain disruptions still upending shipping of crabs from places like Louisiana and North Carolina, where the crabs are caught in the winter months; and more locally, an inability to find crabbing manpower in the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland and Delaware. The Chesapeake Bay crabbing industry also got off to a slow start this year due to lower numbers of adult crabs, but experts say that it isn’t a dire situation longterm.

The problems have combined to create a shortage and high prices for restaurants.

Read the full story at NBC 10

LOUISIANA: Gulf of Mexico crabbers keeping an eye on nearby states in light of tight supply in early 2021

April 14, 2021 — Gulf of Mexico crabbers are navigating into uncertain waters as the spring of 2021 arrives, in a year that began with a dearth of product.

“There’s nothing since Christmas,” said long-time crab dock owner Trudy Luke of Houma, Louisiana, U.S.A., whose family members also regularly harvest blue crabs. “The demand is so high that docks are throwing money out there. I’ve got a fisherman here who usually brings in 100 55-pound pans. Today, he brought in 10.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: ‘Brutal’ start to 2021 crabbing

February 17, 2021 — It was a hectic and hazardous opening weekend for commercial crab fishermen and the Coast Guard monitoring the fleet.

Commercial crabbing kicked off in Washington with a majority of fishermen dropping their first load of pots late last week for a 73-hour day soak period.

Fishermen reported encountering challenging conditions during their initial trips offshore with rogue waves, freezing rain and dense fog combined with usual turbulence of crossing the Columbia River Bar in boats loaded with crab pots.

Fishermen described the opening weekend conditions as “gnarly,” “brutal,” and in some instances “the worst they’ve ever seen.” One said he was simply grateful there weren’t any deaths despite some close calls.

Read the full story at The Chinook Observer

Scientists look for invasive crab ‘fingerprint’ in Alaska waters

December 18, 2020 — Scientists are on the lookout for an invasive crab species expected to move north into Alaskan waters. This year in Southeast Alaska, they added a new tool to the monitoring effort for European green crab, which is a threat to the state’s shellfish and salmon.

European green crab or shore crab have been expanding their range north along the Pacific coast. But this year they were discovered just south of the Alaskan border.

“This Haida Gwaii occurrence last summer puts them very close to us,” said Linda Shaw, invasive species coordinator for the Alaska regional office of NOAA Fisheries. “I really wish I could say we don’t expect them, but prudence dictates that we say, yes, we think it’s a matter of when, not if.”

In July, natural resources managers found male and female adult green crab in Haida Gwaii, formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Read the full story at KTOO

NORTH CAROLINA: Blue crab season closure implemented

December 10, 2020 — The following was released by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality:

The blue crab season closures will go into effect Jan. 1-31, 2021 in North Carolina state waters north and east of the Highway 58 bridge and March 1-15, 2021 south and west of the Highway 58 bridge. The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission approved measures to end overfishing and achieve sustainable harvest with the adoption of the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 at its February 2020 meeting.

The blue crab season closure replaces the annual pot closure period and will remain closed for the entirety. Pots of any type must be removed from Internal Coastal Fishing Waters (excludes ocean) during the season closure and possession of blue crabs regardless of harvest gear type is prohibited from all Coastal Fishing Waters (ocean and internal waters).

Season closures are necessary to reduce harvest because a recent North Carolina stock assessment for blue crab determined the stock is overfished and overfishing is occurring. Overfished means the population is too small. Overfishing means the removal rate is too high. North Carolina law mandates that fishery management plans include measures to end overfishing within two years of adoption and rebuild the stock to achieve sustainable harvest within 10 years of adoption.

Division of Marine Fisheries Director Steve Murphey implemented the new measures through Proclamation M-01-2021. Proclamations are available on the division’s website at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/proclamations.

Information on Amendment 3 can be found on the Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan Information webpage. For more information, contact division biologist Daniel Zapf at 252-946-6481.

Pandemic prompts extension of crab-pot season in Virginia

December 4, 2020 — Regulators of Virginia’s fisheries have decided to extend the traditional crab pot season. And they say it shouldn’t have a big impact on the crab populations in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Virginian-Pilot reported Thursday that the Virginia Marine Resources Commission extended the crab pot season by 20 days, until Dec. 19. The goal is to make up for losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WTOP

Using eDNA to Monitor Alaskan Waters for Invasive European Green Crabs

December 1, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Natural resource managers in British Columbia discovered several adult male and female European green crabs on Haida Gwaii this past July. Alarm bells immediately went off for biologists in Alaska.

The archipelago of Haida Gwaii, off the coast of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, is very close to Alaska. The July discovery is the closest confirmed finding of the invasive crustacean since it was first detected in the San Francisco Bay area in 1989.

European green crabs were first introduced to North America in the 1800s, likely hitching a ride in the ballast water of merchant ships from Europe. Experts believe the invasive crab was transported to the West Coast in ballast water as well.

The green crab is considered one of the most invasive species in the marine environment. It has few predators, aggressively hunts and eats its prey, destroys seagrass, and outcompetes local species for food and habitat. It has been documented that European green crab devour juvenile king crab as well as juvenile salmon.

Read more.

California rolls out new Dungeness crab regulations to reduce entanglements

October 28, 2020 — California officials on Monday, 26 October, announced new Dungeness crab fishing regulations designed to reduce encounters with several endangered species.

The new regulations, which will take effect on Saturday, 1 November, call for fishermen to lower the number of traps in areas where a higher number of whales or sea turtles are present. The state also reserves the right to close an area if an entanglement occurs.

Read the full story at Seafood Source