Green Crab Surveys

Volunteers will receive a brief training in crab identification and survey methods with Sea Grant biologist Dr. Gabby Bradt. Small groups of volunteers will choose, from a list of locations, an area to conduct their crab survey. Once chosen, volunteers are expected to head out into the field twice a month. As a steward of that research site, you will be in charge of recording data on green crabs and submitting your findings either on our app or a paper data sheet.

Surveys should occur for 1 hour every other week (2 hours per month). From April through September.

The green crab is an invasive species that has wreaked ecological and economic havoc along the New England coast for decades. As ocean temperatures have increased, the populations of these crabs continue to explode. Currently, there is no strategy in place to control the populations of green crabs, and there is no real commercial market or fishery for these invaders. The goal of the NH Green Crab Project is to identify a clear window of time when male and female green crabs are molting as part of the exploration of the  soft-shell green crab market and fishery in the Granite State.

• Opportunities to learn about green crabs and other rocky coastal species
• Contribute to a study on management of the invasive green crab
• Meet people from your community with similar interests