News

In partnership with the Port of Prince Rupert, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre, NWCC student volunteers and faculty surveyed select habitats in the Prince Rupert, British Columbia harbour to look for invasive European green crabs during the summer of 2013.

“It was fascinating to learn about the green crab invasion,” said Janette Fumanti, a Career and College Preparation student at NWCC Prince Rupert Campus. “We had this incredible opportunity to get up close and personal with a lot of local species. The bull sea lion was amazing!”

The European green crab, a non-indigenous species, has been marching northward along the Pacific Coast since 1998 and has reached Gale Passage, near Bella Bella in 2011. It is feared that if they become established, they could possibly deplete local populations of the indigenous Dungeness crab.

NWCC students and instructors set strings of modified shrimp traps to determine if the crabs have come as far north as Prince Rupert. A number of volunteers from the community helped the NWCC crew monitor the trap line throughout the summer and were able to observe many species, big and small.

- See more at: http://www.nwcc.bc.ca/news/nwcc-study-invasive-species#sthash.NtqiQTnS.dpuf