Green crabs as lobster bait working in Nova Scotia

Lobster news from www.workingwaterfront.com


   It's a fishing version of the old "If life gives you lemons…" adage. Instead of passively watching invasive green crabs devour native species, fishermen and scientists in Nova Scotia have acted, turning the invader into an asset.

  At the Maine Green Lobster Summit in Orono in December, Chris McCarthy, ecologist with the province's Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, explained how the commercial green crab fishery was established, and how it helped sustain local ecosystems. By turning the green crabs into an alternative bait for the local maine lobster fishery, the invasive species was reduced and the existing fishery boosted.
  Maine clammers and fishermen have been raising the alarm for the last couple of years about the invasion of European Green crabs and the damage they are causing to shellfish beds and near-shore ecosystems. The crabs seem to eat almost anything, including soft shell clams, juveniles of other crabs and lobsters, and eelgrass.


Live Maine Lobster 1 1/4 Pound
Buy Fresh Maine lobster in its most animated form- LIVE.
Only the finest quality live hard-shell live  Maine lobsters.
  The new commercial fishery in Nova Scotia is a bright spot in an otherwise bleak picture. Fishermen there are now targeting the species, bringing down the numbers (and size) of green crabs left in the water, and making money in the process. The going rate for green crabs is $100/crate ($.83/lb.). A crate is about 120 pounds, and on average five crabs make up a pound, so about 600 crabs makes a fisherman $100. Considering that up to 1,187 crabs were caught in a trap one night, we thought this was worth further investigation. 



 McCarthy reported that there were two challenges to getting the fishery started—building an effective trap and developing a market for crabs as bait.
"The challenge," as McCarthy noted, "is that bait is like a religion to the fishermen."
A local fishermen, Russell Nickerson, took the lead. He started by leaving a crate of crabs on each wharf in his area with a sign: "Free—an invasive species—try in every second trap”, along with his phone number. And people started calling.

  At the same time, Nickerson worked on building the best trap he could for the job. He ended up with a modified shrimp trap and then worked with the local fishery management body to get it approved and set up a licensing system. Nova Scotia now has 53 Department of Fish and Oceans approved commercial green crab harvesters using the "Russell" trap. Full the Article