European Green Crab Joint Quarterly and Annual Progress Report – April 1 to June 30, 2025, and Fiscal Year 2025 (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025)

In response to Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill (ESSB) 5167, the Washington State Legislature’s operating budget proviso for the 2025-2027 biennium, this report has been authored as the first in a series of annual progress reports outlining the successes and challenges of ongoing European green crab (hereafter referred to as green crab or EGC) emergency response efforts in Washington state during Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025). Additionally, this report serves as the final quarterly progress report required by ESSB 5693 (2022 supplemental operating budget) and ESSB 5187 (2023-2025 biennium operating budget), outlining the successes and challenges of green crab emergency response efforts in Washington state from April 1 to June 30, 2025.

Previous quarterly progress reports are available on the publications page and on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)’s European green crab page under the Conservation tab. 

In 2021, WDFW, co-managers, tribes, and partners identified an exponential increase of invasive green crab, Carcinus maenas, in the Lummi Nation’s Sea Pond within the Salish Sea, and outer coastal areas including Grays Harbor, Makah Bay, and Willapa Bay. On Dec. 14, 2021, WDFW Director Kelly Susewind submitted an emergency measures request under RCW 77.135.090 for green crab response to Governor Jay Inslee. On Jan. 19, 2022, Governor Inslee issued an emergency proclamation (#22-02 (PDF)) to address the exponential increase in green crab populations across Washington’s marine shorelines. The proclamation directed WDFW to eradicate, reduce, or contain green crab populations in Washington. The Washington State Legislature approved $8,568,000 in emergency funding during the 2022 Supplemental Budget to facilitate increased green crab management efforts. 

An Incident Command System (ICS) was established to deal with the complexities of green crab management, including Coastal and Salish Sea branches each with defined management areas. Additionally, the Washington State Emergency Management Division assigned European green crab response as a formal mission # 22-1085 on April 18, 2022.

Support for and coordination with co-managers, tribes, and partners (CMTPs) is essential, as no single entity can successfully implement statewide green crab management strategies alone. Over 40 co-managers, Tribes and partners have continued their ongoing efforts managing green crab populations, closely coordinating with WDFW. The ICS also resulted in the creation and distribution of various updates, including reports to the governor every 10 days and Situation Reports (SitReps) based on monthly operational periods to provide CMTPs, the Governor’s Office, and Washington Emergency Management Division key information regarding management actions taken, grant funding allocations, green crab catch numbers, trapping efforts, media relations, community outreach, and other relevant information. WDFW synthesizes these Situation Reports for the public, media, and other external audiences in regular updates published and distributed through WDFW’s Green Crab Management Updates email list as well as the Department’s blog, social media channels, and archived on the green crab species webpage. Additionally, WDFW issues news releases for new green crab detections at the management area level, which are distributed to media outlets and email subscribers around the state and posted on the Department’s Newsroom. 

Representatives from many entities participating in green crab management have joined the ICS Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) Group. The MAC Group provides a forum for these representatives to share information, establish a common operating picture, develop long-term priorities for the green crab emergency, and commit and allocate funding and other resources to enhance emergency measures responses.

From April 1 to June 30, 2025, green crab partners held four collaborative trapping events, two in the North Puget Sound, one in Hood Canal and one in South Puget Sound. Regional Coordination Groups worked to develop strategic local approaches, making trapping efforts more efficient and effective than ever.

From April 1 to June 30, 2025, the collective effort of all organizations resulted in approximately 47,348 green crab were removed from Washington state marine waters, with 47,140 from the Coastal Branch and 208 from the Salish Sea Branch. Since Jan. 1, 2022, approximately 1,920,378 green crab have been removed from Washington state marine waters, with 1,824,376 removed from the Coast Branch and 92,730 removed from the Salish Sea Branch. In addition to active control trapping, trap deployment for early detection monitoring occurred in areas where green crab had not previously been detected. Data on green crab abundance, body size, sex ratios, and reproductive status were collected for future analysis, along with DNA and RNA samples to assess connectivity between green crab populations. Green crab capture numbers were generally higher in April to June in 2025 compared to 2024, though in many management areas catch numbers were lower compared to 2023. 

During FY 2025 (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025), the collective effort of all organizations resulted in approximately 1,112,726 green crabs removed from Washington state marine waters, with 1,104,850 from the Coastal Branch and 5,247 from the Salish Sea Branch. In addition, green crabs were detected in two new management areas for the first time since the emergency began. The first detection of green crabs in the North Central Puget Sound Management Area since 2021 occurred on Aug. 14, 2024, and the first ever detection of green crabs in the South Central Puget Sound Management Area on May 20, 2025; a news release announcing this new detection was issued on May 23. The increase in green crab removal numbers can be attributed to several factors, including increased trapping effort and skill, as well as enhanced recruitment of juvenile crabs resulting from warmer waters due to the 2024 El Niño Southern Oscillation Event. While green crab abundance and presence increased in many management areas this reporting period, there were a few exceptions; no evidence of green crab presence has been found in the South Puget Sound, Whidbey Basin (including Skagit Bay, Port Susan, and Possession Sound), and southern Hood Canal despite continued monitoring efforts. 

Still, WDFW, WSG, co-managers, tribes, and partners achieved significant progress in green crab management efforts. There is a higher volume and more strategic trapping occurring statewide thanks to the help from new partners. The European Green Crab 2025-2031 Management Plan for Washington which outlines statewide objectives, strategies and actions, is being implemented locally by partners through six Regional Coordination Groups. These groups are analyzing local trends, developing tactical responses and are adapting management as conditions change. While coast-wide eradication may not be possible, early detection and focused local suppression efforts are already reducing impacts and protecting sensitive species and habitats from this harmful species.

The European Green Crab Research Task Force continues to coordinate with green crab researchers across the Pacific coast of North America to advance research priorities to support green crab management efforts in Washington state and throughout the region. Additional progress was also made on public education and community engagement to support green crab awareness, with WDFW representatives engaging individuals through public events, media interviews, and environmental education efforts as well as producing new outreach materials. While challenges remain, the continued efforts of all parties combined with the clear organizational structure established previously will enable continued success through Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026).

In addition to on-the-ground progress, FY 2025 marked an important year in securing and aligning new resources to sustain and expand green crab management. The Washington State Legislature provided $2.5 million to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to conduct management on state-owned aquatic lands, extending control beyond WDFW’s capacity, and to the Department of Ecology to support research focused on better understanding dispersal of green crab larvae.

At the federal level, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded $1.5 million to Washington to support implementation of the state’s European Green Crab 2025-2031 Management Plan for Washington, strengthening the foundation for enhanced national assistance. These investments, coordinated through the ICS and the MAC Group, reinforced the work of co-managers, tribes, and partners and enhanced the reach of existing state, tribal, and local resources. While these achievements represent significant progress, more work remains to address the scale of the threat, and WDFW looks forward to advancing this work with co-managers, tribes, and partners in the year ahead.