EUROPEAN GREEN CRAB Early Detection and Monitoring WSG.WASHINGTON.EDU/CRABTEAM CITATION Grason, EW, JW Adams, K Litle, PS McDonald, PD Dalton (2016) European green crab early detection and monitoring. Washington Sea Grant, Final Report WSG-TR 16-07. 73 p. EUROPEAN GREEN CRAB EARLY DETECTION AND MONITORING wsg.washington.edu/crabteam Final Report for Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife Grant Agreement#: 14-02055 January 30, 2017 Prepared by: Washington Sea Grant University of Washington 3716 Brooklyn Ave. NE Seattle, WA 98105-6716 wsg.washington.edu ii Acknowledgments Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team would like to thank the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Protection & Restoration Grant Program and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their adaptability to direct funds toward an urgent issue of concern regarding the health of Puget Sound. In particular, the grant program staff (Jeannie Abbott, Maria Hunter, Patricia Jatczak and Margaret McKeown) have been extremely helpful tracking reporting requirements and supporting the projects goals and needs, expected and unexpected. The Crab Team would also like to thank the members of the West Coast European Green Crab Committee, coordinated by Stephen Phillips of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, for their guidance, information and resources. In particular, Sylvia Yamada, Oregon State University, generously shared her research, expertise and field time to inform and support the project and some of its volunteers. We also appreciate draft reviews by Sylvia and by Tammy Davis of Alaska Department of Fish and Game. As the primary agency partner in the project and as the leader of rapid response efforts, Allen Pleus, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, helped shape the project and ensure its success, while being a strong advocate for the project’s future. Tom Gries, Washington Department of Ecology, provided clear and critical guidance and timely review to establish the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), guiding successful data collection. The complexity of the Crab Team dataset required database design guidance beyond the abilities of staff within the program. Jennifer Scheuerell, Sound Data Management LLC, graciously volunteered her professional talents to make the Crab Team database a reality. Nine University of Washington (UW) undergraduate students have assisted the project at different times, assuming different roles. Before Crab Team even existed as an idea, Chris Tran and Jeffrey Woo took the first pass at suitable habitat identification and conducted the first molt surveys of the project. Their efforts and poster took top honors for a student poster at the 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference. Natalie White, Ian Anderson and Joey VanderWood all contributed to our understanding of volunteer experiences and needs, helping us adjust the protocol after the pilot year. Chelsea Bogrow and Madison Keeley launched and refined our efforts to draft outreach materials and gather contacts of targeted user groups. And Bryton Seyfert conducted his own field project to help us better understand the influence of bait types on trap catches. Crab Team monitoring would not be possible without access to sites identified as high priority habitats; the Team thanks the diverse landowners, from national, state and local agencies to private entities and non-profits, who granted access. The Crab Team’s deepest gratitude is reserved for the talented and committed array of individuals who have brought their passion for protecting and contributing to our understanding of Puget Sound by volunteering their time and personal resources. iii CRAB TEAM STAFF Penelope D. Dalton, Principal Investigator Washington Sea Grant (WSG), Director Jeff Adams, Crab Team Lead WSG, Marine Ecologist Emily Grason, Ph.D., Crab Team Coordinator WSG, Aquatic Invasive Species Specialist Kate Litle, Citizen Science Expert WSG, Assistant Director for Programs P. Sean McDonald, Ph.D., Green Crab Expert UW Program on the Environment, Lecturer/Capstone Instructor UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Research Scientist MaryAnn Wagner, Media and Communications Expert WSG, Assistant Director for Communications This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement PC 00J29801 to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. iv v Abstract The globally invasive European green crab has been on the Salish Sea’s doorstep for two decades, but none were captured from Salish Sea shorelines until 2012. That year, a population was discovered in Sooke Inlet, just west of Victoria, British Columbia. The discovery increased concern about potential impacts of European green crab on Washington’s inland marine shorelines and reinvigorated interest in and support for early detection monitoring. In response, Washington Sea Grant developed the Crab Team with support from the US Environmental Protection Agency and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Crab Team is a volunteer monitoring network carefully designed to maximize the likelihood of detecting green crab while populations are manageable and for gathering related data to increase understanding of natural conditions in suitable green crab habitat. During its first year, Crab Team established seven sites that were monitored by volunteers for the last one or two months of the monitoring season. The approach was then refined using volunteer feedback and staff and peer insights. In 2016, the Crab Team was launched in full, monitoring 26 sites from April to September. The monitoring approach included baited traps, a timed molt search and a habitat survey. All individual organisms collected were identified and counted, with size and sex data collected for a subset of trapped crabs. The data can be used in a variety of ways and will be of increasing value as subsequent years of information are added and particularly if green crab become established at any of the monitoring sites. Of the more than 66,500 live organisms and molts examined during Crab Team’s first two years, only one European green crab was found. Discovery of a green crab in Washington’s inland marine waters demonstrated the effectiveness of the Crab Team approach, but also required a more detailed assessment of population size and distribution. After volunteers collected a green crab on San Juan Island, WDFW coordinated a rapid assessment using Crab Team expertise and equipment as a resource. After two days of intense trapping and searching for molts, evidence (a molt) of only one other green crab was found. The process was repeated again when staff at the Padilla Bay National Estuary Research Reserve found a small green crab. The three-day response effort netted three additional crabs, but there was no evidence of an established population. To further increase the likelihood of green crab early detection in the Salish Sea, the Crab Team developed media relationships, materials and contact lists as part of a broad and ongoing outreach effort. News media coverage reached a wide audience, while groups and individuals likely to spend time on, in or around the water were engaged more directly through presentations, flyers and individual interactions. In this report, we share information about European green crab, the Crab Team approach to monitoring, the Crab Team volunteer training and engagement process and the findings and results from the first two years of Crab Team data collection. vi vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................................III ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................................... VI INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 10 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 EUROPEAN GREEN CRAB ............................................................................................................................................................... 10 Invasion history ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Life history and identification......................................................................................................................................... 12 Potential impacts ................................................................................................................................................................... 16 PUGET SOUND GREEN CRAB MONITORING ............................................................................................................................... 18 METHODS ........................................................................................................................................................ 19 VOLUNTEER MONITORING EARLY DETECTION PROGRAM ...................................................................................................