Green Crab Monitoring

Green crabs are an invasive species that threaten clam populations, eelgrass beds, and local marshes.  To find out more about these crabs, KELT purchased green crab traps with the help of a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund in 2014.  Since then, these traps have helped to gather information about crab populations in our region.  KELT used them to work with students at Bath Middle School and Woolwich Central School to trap green crabs and document information about their populations each fall.   The Arrowsic Shellfish Committee has borrowed them for a one day trapping effort each summer to get a snapshot of crab populations around the island.  Some Georgetown citizen scientists have borrowed these traps to track crab populations at Heal Eddy, every other week for the past few years. 

What's a Green Crab?

The invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenus, is not always green! There are other features that can be used to identify green crabs.  Various programs around the state and region that are trying to learn more about this voracious invertebrate.

Bath Middle School Trapping

Bath Middle School 7th grade students and teachers spend their fall exploring information about local fisheries.  This exploration includes learning about invasive green crabs and trapping them to find out information about their population and how it changes over time.  Learn more about the student project and their findings.

Annual Trapping in Local Towns

We'll be updating this section with data from local trapping efforts.  More information coming soon!