One of the most invasive species in the world, the European Green Crab, was found for the first time on Cortes Island last Thursday, April 25.
Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI), Klahoose Fisheries, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have been collaborating on a monitoring project on Cortes in anticipation of a possible spread of the species.
Executive Director of FOCI Helen Hall explained why the crabs are so harmful to the environment.
“They damage eelgrass beds, they compete with other native species of crab and they do a lot of harm… they’re prevalent on the west coast of Vancouver Island, where they’ve caused a huge amount of issues there, and they’re very hard to get rid of.”
Invasive species in general can be partially prevented by humans thoroughly cleaning any boats being transported from one body of water to another. Visit CleanDrainDry.ca for more information.
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