Aquatic biologists and marine conservationists are bracing themselves for the possible introduction of a deadly coral pathogen to Hawaiʻi's waters. In the last decade, stony coral tissue loss disease has infected the entirety of Florida's reef system and spread to more than 20 countries and territories in the Caribbean. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote reports on Hawaiʻi's first line of defense and what it could learn from abroad.
Interlopers are coming into California by land, by sea … and by FedEx. That’s what happened with the European green crab, a voracious cannibal that stowed away in packages of worms sent by overnight delivery to commercial fishermen in California. Unknown to anyone, the tiny crustaceans were concealed in seaweed that wrapped the cargo and were freed into the Pacific when fishermen tossed it overboard. Then the green crabs, which a century ago decimated the East Coast’s shellfish industry, began to dine out in the Pacific, munching nearly everything in sight. Authorities made plans to rid the ocean of the pests.
April 18, 2021
It s nothing less than an invasion. Interlopers are coming into California by land, by sea…and by FedEx.
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That s what happened with the European green crab, a voracious cannibal that stowed away in packages of worms sent by overnight delivery to commercial fishermen in California. Unknown to anyone, the tiny crustaceans were concealed in seaweed that wrapped the cargo and were freed into the Pacific when fishermen tossed it overboard.
Then the green crabs, which a century ago decimated the East Coast s shellfish industry, began to dine out in the Pacific, munching nearly everything in sight. Authorities made plans to rid the ocean of the pests.
Unwelcome and Tough to Evict: California’s Costly, Uphill Battle Against Invasive Species
Close up view of a bin of green crabs pulled from a single trap. In some cases there can be close to 100 crabs per trap in years of very high numbers. Photo courtesy of Ted Grosholz.
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Interlopers are coming into California by land, by sea…and by FedEx.
That’s what happened with the European green crab, a voracious cannibal that stowed away in packages of worms sent by overnight delivery to commercial fisherman in California. Unknown to anyone, the tiny crustaceans were concealed in seaweed that wrapped the cargo and were freed into the Pacific when fishermen tossed it overboard.