Why Eat Green Crabs?

European green crab (Carcinus maenas) is an invasive species native to regions of Western Europe and North Africa. They are commonly considered one of the “world’s worst invasive species” and their populations and range are expected to expand with climate change. Not only do green crabs consume a wide variety of shellfish and compete with native species, they also destroy vital seagrass habitats. Fortunately, green crab is also a sustainable seafood that is popping up on menus across the US. It can be served soft-shell, fermented, shucked for roe, or transformed into stocks and sauces, soups.

GreenCrab.org is a nonprofit organization with a two-clawed approach: building culinary markets for European green crab and spreading awareness of its invasive impact across the globe.

Green crabs are one of the world’s worst invasive species that threaten some of the world’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 creating a sustainable fishery.

- Mary Parks, Executive Director & Founder

Problem to Plate

Our Work

We help build green crab supply chains. through partnerships with wholesalers, restauran ts and harve sters with the goal of responsibly growing the fishery across North America.
Pictured is Captain Jason Jarvis: Green Crabber, Board President of the North American Marine Alliance, and a Co-Founder of Quonochontaug Food Cooperative.

From wholesaler resources to culinary guides , to K-8 colori ng books, our organization develops resources for those looking to learn more about green crab’s invasive impact and culinary potential
Pictured is Youji Iwakura leading a free cooking demo for Green Crab Ramen at Revere Beach. Youji frequently features green crab on his menu at Washoku Renaissance and also serves on our board.

Check out our events page and blog to learn more about how we connect with wholesalers, harvesters, chefs, schools, and community members to get more people excited about eating green crabs.

Our Goals

Motivate the harvest and consumption of invasive green crabs
Collaborate with chefs, crabbers, and wholesalers to responsibly build out green crab supply chains
Create tailored resources for chefs looking to cook with green crabs, harvesters looking to trap them, and suppliers looking to source them
Share emerging science and research related to green crabs in an accessible way
Support green crab product producers

Team and Advisors

Mary grew up in Penobscot Bay and first learned about green crab's invasive impact from the surrounding lobstering and clamming community. She went on to study the invasive at Colby College, graduating with a dual degree in Biology and Environmental Science with a concentration in fisheries.
After working in traceability for a commercial fish wholesaler in Boston and learning more about bait markets for green crabs, she started asking what needed to be done to build a culinary market. In 2020 she went on to found GreenCrab.org: our nonprofit dedicated to building culinary markets for European green crab and spreading awareness of its invasive impact.

Tae Chong is a Multicultural Markets and Strategies Consultant at the Maine Chamber of Commerce, providing outreach to Maine businesses interested in hiring and retaining a diverse workforce and increasing sales and services to people of color. Tae specializes in market research and strategies with multicultural and BIPOC communities in Maine and the Northeast. His research with Sea Maine (Multicultural Market Analysis: Cambodian, Vietnamese Seafood) broke down the potential market for green crabs among Maine's Southeast Asian communities. This research has served as an important foundation in building out projects such as Khmer Maine's Salted Crab Project.

Ally holds a JD from Roger Williams University School of Law where she focused on administrative and coastal law. Her expertise in regulatory interpretation and legislative tracking from prior roles in the nonprofit, environmental law and academic world helps fuel her passion for the intersection between statutory analysis and invasives management.

John is the Founder of Maine Green Crabs : trapping and selling green crabs out of the Weskeag River. Check out our recipe page to find John’s recipe for green crab bisque.

Jason Jarvis, a commercial fisherman based out of Westerly, Rhode Island who has been harvesting green crabs for 9 years. Jason serves on the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council and as Board President of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. Jason is also co-owner of Quonochontaug Fish Company: a Black-owned seafood cooperative launching in the summer of 2025.

Dr. Gulsun Akdemir Evrendilek earned her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Following completion of her doctoral training, she held faculty appointments at multiple academic institutions and is currently an Associate Extension
Professor and Seafood Technology and Food Safety Specialist at the University of Maine. Her research program focuses on food safety, quality assurance, and the application of innovative processing technologies to improve both microbial safety and functional quality of foods. She specializes in novel nonthermal processing technologies, including pulsed electric fields (PEF), high-pressure processing (HPP), ozone, and ultraviolet (UV) light, with particular emphasis on achieving microbial inactivation while preserving nutritional and sensory quality. A key component of her work is understanding how these technologies influence bioactive compounds, such as antioxidants, antimicrobial molecules, and other health-promoting constituents, by enhancing their stability, bioaccessibility, and potential health benefits.
Dr. Akdemir Evrendilek also conducts research in process and product development, biosensor technologies, and rapid detection and analytical platforms for monitoring foodborne pathogens and environmental contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in seafood. Her broader research interests include food waste valorization, bioactive and intelligent packaging, and the development of novel functional materials that contribute to improved food quality, extended shelf life, and enhanced product performance.
In addition to her research activities, Dr. Akdemir Evrendilek plays a significant role in extension education and workforce development. She delivers Seafood HACCP, Meat and Poultry HACCP, and Food Sanitation training programs to food industry professionals, regulatory agencies, and academic trainees. She also leads microcredential-based workforce development initiatives designed to strengthen food safety capacity across Maine and beyond. She is a certified instructor for the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) for Preventive Controls for Human Food (Version 2.0), providing FDA-recognized training aligned with FSMA requirements.

Our Board

Alisha is a founding board member of GreenCrab.org and hails from the North Shore: a region deeply impacted by invasive green crabs. She works for Wulf’s Fish: the first wholesaler to regularly offer green crabs delivered directly to consumers and restaurants. Learn more about Wulf’s work with green crabs here.

Based in Mystic, Connecticut, Kathleen has an extensive background in food and wine. She’s a certified sommelier through The Sommelier Society of America, has led wine programs at the nation’s top restaurants, and is currently a partner behind James Beard Award Winning Restaurant The Shipwright’s Daughter. She’s also won multiple Wine Spectator Awards and works alongside business and life partner Chef David Standridge to educate diners and chefs on sustainable ingredients including green crab. Learn more about our work with Kathleen and how The Shipwright’s Daughter processes up to 100 pounds of green crab a week in this FAQ.

Patrick also known as Shucker Paddy is a GreenCrab.org Board Member, restauranteur, Oyster Master Guild Co-Founder , and the World’s Fastest Oyster Shucker. He first cooked with green crabs over a decade ago and is passionate about the impact of green crabs on the oyster industry and innovative solutions.

Dan currently leads finance and business operations at Iterative Health, a healthcare technology company. At Iterative Health, Dan has helped develop financial strategy, build corporate culture, and led the successful effort to secure the company its first medical device FDA clearance. Prior to Iterative Health, Dan helped to co-lead pharmaceutical investments within the private equity group at Barings, a $350+ billion AUM global investment manager. Dan holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Megan Cronin is an artist and an arts administrator working in higher-ed fundraising. She recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Food Studies at Boston University’s Gastronomy program, researching a range of subject matter including invasive species, radical hospitality, and food activism.
Raised in Marblehead, MA, she has a deep love for the coastal environment of New England and seeks to bring her varied skills and interests to serve the mission of GreenCrab.org and expand its outreach.

Board Member, Chef & Owner of Washoku Renaissance, and Recipe Developer Youji Iwakura has been cooking with green crabs since 2022. He’s been working alongside St. Ours company to develop recipes with their green crab broth and regularly features the invasive on his menu. Check out his recipe for green crab broth and ramen here.

Michael is a food writer and brand strategist who lives in Cambridge, MA. His articles, recipes and interviews with characters from the food world have appeared regularly in the Boston Globe and Edible Boston. Michael holds a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Carnegie Mellon University a Master’s of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy from Boston University. In addition to writing about food, Michael works as a brand strategist and writer who has worked with companies in many industries including food and beverage, financial services, technology and more. You can reach him by email at Michael.Floreak@gmail.com or follow on Twitter: @floreak.