Puget Sound has crabs.

An invasive species of European green crabs, “one of the world’s most harmful marine species,” has been detected in the Salish Sea. They “damage bed sediments, leading to the loss of eelgrass, an essential habitat for Dungeness crab and Pacific salmon.”

The Tulalip Tribes reported “detection of a green crab in the southern Whidbey Basin at Mission Beach” earlier this year.

Get outta here, crabbies!

#SalishSea #PugetSound #WhidbeyIsland #Swinomish #Tulalip #Washington #Crab #Crabs #Crabbing #Invasive #Invasivespecies #Dungeness #Salmon #Eelgrass

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/invasive-european-green-crabs-discovered-in-was-skagit-bay/

To learn about how to identify European green crabs and to volunteer with Molt Search, visit https://wsg.washington.edu/crabteam/moltsearch/

I was thrilled to work as an editor for the fall issue of Ecology & Action Magazine, particularly on writer Bianca Marzan's piece on EAC's pop-up bike hub. The entire magazine is beautiful and worth the read! #biking #diy #ecology #eelgrass #climate #art

https://ecologyaction.ca/sites/default/files/2025-11/MagazineFall2025.pdf

#EelGrass

"“They're a nursery habitat — a lot of young fish and crustaceans and other organisms grow up in them,” he said. “If we don't have seagrasses, we don't have bay scallops at all in these ecosystems.”

Eelgrass also protects against coastal erosion, Long said. The meadows absorb some of the energy from waves before they hit the coast, and the plants' roots help stabilize mud and sand in coastal bays. Plus, they help keep climate-changing carbon out of the atmosphere by storing it in sediment.

(. . .)

But this critical plant is in decline. If scientists can't find a way to help eelgrass flourish, the results could hurt fishermen and coastal communities."

https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/01/16/massachusetts-eelgrass-seagrass-climate-change-new-england-carbon

#Seagrass-#oyster facilitation at risk under future #ocean conditions
https://jecologyblog.com/2024/10/14/seagrass-oyster-facilitation-at-risk-under-future-ocean-conditions/

Shifting seagrass-oyster interactions alter species response to ocean #warming and #acidification: Katherine DuBois et al. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.14406

"When grown in co-culture, #oysters and seagrass have may offset the negative effects of #climate related stressors on one another... Under future ocean conditions with higher temperatures & lower pH, oysters’ positive impact on #eelgrass growth disappear"

Part of the ongoing #rewilding & #nature #restoration work I do with fellow caring local #environmentalists is planting #EelGrass in areas where we are trying to bump up #ocean #oxygen levels & bring back more #biodiversity in the seas. Eel grass purposeful planting into ocean beds(with divers) & beaches at low tide is an essential part of restoring biodiversity back to human damaged areas in ocean.

#ClimateAction #VancouverIsland #Nature #Stewardship #Wsanec #Saanich #GoodNews #PacificNorthwest #PNW #VanIsle #Ecological #Ecosystems #Marine #OceanScience #naturalists #SalishSea #Aquatic #SeaPlants #botanical #Cascadia #SeaGrass

Fight to save #PugetSound #KelpBed underscores NW #habitat challenges

July 25, 2024

"The #WashingtonState Department of Natural Resources and the #SquaxinIslandTribe have announced a partnership to conserve the #SquaxinIsland Kelp Bed, the last major kelp bed in South Puget Sound.

"DNR and the Squaxin Island Tribe will work to surround the kelp bed with a priority habitat zone, try to reduce #environmental stresses to improve the kelp bed’s health, and partner with #PugetSoundRestorationFund on future #restoration projects, according to a news release.

"Since 2013, DNR and Squaxin Island staff have seen a 97% decline in the kelp bed, which holds both ecological and cultural significance. In #Oregon, the #coastline lost more than two-thirds of its canopy of #BullKelp.

"'We recognize how important it is to protect this critical resource,' said #KrisPeters, Squaxin Island Tribe chairman, in a statement. '#Squaxins can’t do it alone; it takes us all coming together as partners. That is why this local inter-governmental agreement is so important and monumental.'

"The Squaxin Island Kelp Bed is the first habitat DNR is prioritizing in its statewide #KelpForest and #Eelgrass Meadow Health and Conservation Plan, which state legislation directed DNR to hatch in response to the loss of bull kelp and eelgrass on the Washington coastline.

"The plan’s goal is to conserve and restore at least 10,000 acres of kelp forest and eelgrass meadow habitat by 2040.

"Restoration efforts will initially focus on three pilot sub-basins: South Puget Sound, the Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca and Grays Harbor. As DNR works toward its 10,000-acre goal, it intends to explore conservation and recovery in all sub-basins, according to DNR’s website.

"'Squaxin people have been stewarding these waters and lands for thousands of years,' Peters said in a statement. '#KelpBeds have also been stewarding these waters for thousands of years, providing nourishment and a critical ecosystem for the many plants, animals, and fish of the #SalishSea.'"

https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2024/07/fight-to-save-puget-sound-kelp-bed-underscores-nw-habitat-challenges.html?outputType=amp

#Northwest #LandBack
#NativeKnowledge #Nature #IndigenousKnowledge #conservation #sustainability #decolonization #PacificNorthwest #PNW #environmental
#IndigenousLedProject
#reclamation #decolonialism #Restoration #Landback #Rewilding #RestoreNature #Salish