WSU Extension and Washington Sea Grant are inviting the public to assist in “Molt Search”, a new citizen science initiative to help combat the growing concern of the invasive European green crab.

According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the European green crab is one of the world’s worst invasive species and it threatens the overall health of Washington’s marine waters.

WSU Extension will be hosting a Virtual Molt Search Training, via Zoom, on August 23.

For more information about the upcoming training workshops go to https://wsg.washington.edu/event/molt-search-volunteer-training-zoom/ OR email clniles@wsu.edu, or jonathan.w.robinson@wsu.edu

To register for this virtual training, go to https://bit.ly/VirtualMoltSearch.

Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team currently supports the WDFW-led coalition of tribal co-managers and partners by monitoring for European green crab at about 60 Salish Sea sites, but these only cover a small fraction of the suitable nearshore habitat for this animal. Molt Search will enable the public to take action to protect marine waters by teaching volunteers how to conduct a 20-minute survey for crab molts and how to report their findings using a mobile app.