While recreationally harvesting green crab has been allowed for decades, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission recently increased the daily bag limit to 35 crab. This gives recreational shellfishers an opportunity to help native shellfish by taking more of these invaders home. Commercially harvesting green crab is prohibited.

Green crab:

• Compete with native crabs for food.
• Larger green crab may eat smaller native shellfish.
• May disturb eelgrass beds important to native fishes and shellfish.

Identifying green crab:

• Three bumps between the eyes.
• Five spines on the outside of each eye.
• Color is variable and be green, black or yellow. There might also be white, yellow, orange, or reddish underneath and on leg joints.
• Adult crab shell (carapace) width is two to four inches. Usually found in mid-to-upper estuary areas.
• Know your target. Many native crab species (including Dungeness) are mistaken as green crabs.
• Crab identification guide

Catching green crab:

• An ODFW Shellfish License is required.
• The daily limit is 35 and is separate from other crab species.
• Gear used to harvest native Dungeness and red rock crab also works for green crab.
• Remove viscera before eating crab.
• Call the Shellfish Safety Hotline at 1-800-448-2474 before harvesting and consuming any shellfish.

Green crab are here to stay

• Introduced to the U.S. West Coast during the mid-1990s, green crab populations persist though fluctuate widely based on environmental conditions.
• Local population increases or decreases are determined by supplies of larvae delivered by the ocean, and survival of juvenile and adult green crab.
• Ocean currents deliver green crab larvae to Oregon bays and estuaries from distant locations.
• During periods of warmer water (El Nino), green crab reproduction is more successful, and populations increase.
• Harvesting green crab alone is unlikely to decrease the population in the long run. Harvested numbers are quickly replaced by supplies of larvae delivered on ocean currents.
• ODFW and partner agencies monitor and research green crabs.