Invasive European green crabs are continuing their long march northward.
A researcher with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) confirmed two females of the species have been found at Esquimalt Lagoon.
B次元官网网址淭his is the first that itB次元官网网址檚 been found, to our knowledgeB次元官网网址� ever in Esquimalt Lagoon,B次元官网网址� said Patty Menning, an aquatic invasive biologist with DFO.
B次元官网网址淲e looked at 28 potential sites last year that may be suitable for green crab. And this year weB次元官网网址檙e continuing that program, and we are looking at other sites within the Salish Sea,B次元官网网址� she said.
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Menning and members from a community group recently deployed around 90 traps at the Esquimalt Lagoon, a wildlife sanctuary home to migratory birds, to eradicate the species.
B次元官网网址淲e use two different types of traps to try to target both the adult and the juvenile stages of European crab,B次元官网网址� she said.
The crabs have a higher tolerance to increased temperatures and decreased salinity than native ones. That means they can survive in places that native crabs such as red rock and Dungeness canB次元官网网址檛 occupy, Menning said. They have been spotted on the west coast of Vancouver Island, including along Sooke Basin.
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European green crabs compete with the native juvenile crabs for prey such as bivalves, worms and smaller crabs on the shore. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e actually competing with our native population. As well, theyB次元官网网址檙e voracious eaters,B次元官网网址� Menning said.
Their Latin name, carcinus maenas, means B次元官网网址渞aving mad crabs,B次元官网网址� she said.
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Reaching up to four inches in size, they were first found on the Oregon coast B次元官网网址渂ack in the B次元官网网址�60s,B次元官网网址� Menning noted. Sometime around 1989, the green crabs were spotted in B.C. waters for the first time, she added.
Menning is running an early detection program for the second summer this year, focusing on the Salish Sea with the hopes of eradicating the population, with traps, before they become established.
