why eat green crabs?
For centuries, green crabs have been embedded within Venetian cuisine: served soft-shell or shucked for delicious caviar known as Masinette. Travel outside the Mediterranean and the crab has a very different reputation. This small crustacean has spread to nearly every continent on the globe and been hailed as one of the most destructive invasive species of all time. Invasive green crabs eat native shellfish species, outcompete local crabs, and destroy vital seagrass habitat when foraging for food. After discovering the crab had decimated New England soft-shell clam populations, conservationists began focusing on removal to mitigate their invasive impact. Other folks came up with a different idea: eating the problem.
GreenCrab.org’s mission is to build culinary markets for European green crab while spreading awareness of its invasive impact.
From Eileen Riestra’s Green Crabs at the Beach
“PROBLEM TO PLATE”
OUR GOALS
Motivate the harvest and consumption of green crabs to mitigate their invasive impact.
Educate harvesters and build supplier relationships to bring more people into the green crab fishery, especially underrepresented harvesters and those in vulnerable industries.
Work directly with chefs, line cooks, bartenders, and managers to bring more green crabs onto menus.
Provide the public with free recipes, cooking classes, and resources to spread awareness of green crabs and better understand home markets.
Create feedback-based programming that is tailored to the communities we are serving.
Board Member Jamie Bassett harvests green crabs in Chatham, MA
Green crabs are one of the world’s worst invasive species that threaten some of North America’s most valuable fisheries and vulnerable ecosystems. While we will never be able to eliminate green crabs through developing culinary markets, we can mitigate their invasive impact while developing a sustainable fishery.
- Mary Parks, Executive Director
OUR WORk
EDUCATION
From wholesaler resources to culinary guides, to K-8 coloring books, our organization develops resources for those looking to learn more about green crab’s invasive impact and culinary potential
OUTREACH
Check out our events page and blog to learn more about how we connect with wholesalers, harvesters, chefs, and community members to get more people excited about eating green crabs
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
We help build green crab supply chains. through partnerships with wholesalers, restaurants, and harvesters with the goal of responsibly growing the fishery across North America
PRESS
Boston Globe: Top chefs are serving up green crabs and tackling other issues through food
Boston Globe: Green crabs are invasive. Lucky for us, they are also delicious
Business Insider: The True Cost of the Green Crab Invasion
WBUR: Green crabs are taking over New England shores. One solution? Drink them.
GreenCrab.org Board
Alisha Lumea: Wulf’s Fish
Daniel Wang: Iterative Health
Jamie Bassett: Chatham Kelp, Shellfish Broker
Kathleen Standridge: The Shipwright's Daughter
Megan Cronin: Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Youji Iwakura: Washoku Renaissance
Patrick McMurray: Oyster Master Guild, Shucker Paddy
Explore PAST EVENTS & Programs
Pagu Roundtable
5 chefs from across the country gathered for Pagu’s first Roundtable, the first of a new series that featured dishes with Wulf’s Fish green crabs and Atlantic Sea Farms Kelp
Farm to Institution
We chatted with attendees and hosted a presentation at Farm to Institution, discussing how to use green crabs in an institutional setting
Cooking with Green Crabs
We teamed up with Eating with the Ecosystem to host free tastings and culinary demos with Boston-based chefs on Revere Beach
GreenCrab.org X Khmer Maine
In April 2022, we worked with the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and Khmer Maine to distribute free green crabs
Green Crabs at the Beach
Throughout summer 2021, we hosted interactive pop-ups with green crab art and coloring books through Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay’s Better Beaches Grant
Shuck at Home
During the summer of 2020, we hosted cooking workshops, developed recipes, and gave away free green crabs in partnership with the Mass Department of Marine Fisheries