When Taholah High School students spread out near the Quinault Marina in April armed with crab traps and clipboards, they were collecting data to fight an urgent threat to the ecosystem: the proliferation of European green crab.
The students’ work has added to the Quinault Indian Nation and partners’ knowledge of the invasive species’ spread. Still, the tribe is sending out an urgent call that more data, more resources and more funding is needed to stem the threat before it harms other species and the environment.
The tribal council declared a state of emergency for Grays Harbor and the adjacent coast in February.
“European green crab have the potential to change the ecosystem of Grays Harbor. They eat just about everything. They prey on native species,” said Scott Mazzone, the Quinault Indian Nation’s marine fish and shellfish biologist. Around 350,000 green crab were caught in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor in 2023 alone.
The voracious green crab already are driving down numbers of hairy shore crab and could potentially destroy eelgrass beds and harm the tribe’s treaty-protected Dungeness crab as well as other cultural, commercial and subsistence resources, Mazzone said.
“Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay are important nursery grounds for Dungeness crab, and green crab eat them,” he said.
In response to the tribe’s emergency declaration, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is seeking federal appropriations to address European green crab. The state co-manager also offered technical and staff assistance for Quinault’s efforts.
Meanwhile, the tribe has received help from Taholah High School students with data collection and trapping efforts.
“Our kids work side by side with the professionals,” said Jerry Walther, the school’s career and technical education natural resources teacher.
The green crab effort began last year when students set traps in the Raft and Moclips rivers.
“No one (else) was available to do the green crab trapping at all the places the crab like to hang out,” Walther said.
In December, the students moved their efforts to a green crab hot spot: the Quinault Marina in Ocean Shores, about 30 miles south of Taholah.
“We’ll capture green crab, document the trap, and measure how many males, how many females, how many females with eggs,” Walther said. After collecting data, the crab were turned over to WDFW for eventual disposal.
The data students gather is shared with the tribe and its partners.
“We’re trying to do the best we can to eradicate them, but there’s a lot of them,” Walther said.
It’s a point Mazzone and the tribe want more people to realize before it’s too late.
“We need funds and support to help us control this highly invasive species well into the future,” he said. “This will affect everyone who depends on Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.”
Above: Taholah High School student Luvaila Smith (right) helps Washington State Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) restoration coordinator Chris Waldbillig gather data about trapped European green crab. Photos and story: Trevor Pyle
