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New York Post
18-05-2025
- General
- New York Post
New England fights invasive green crabs with ‘eat them' tactic
If you can't beat them, eat them. That's become a slogan of sorts for the New England seafood industry and some of the fishermen who supply them, as they try to eradicate – or at least control – the population of one of the world's most invasive species: the green crab. These pesky creatures offer little meat but have a voracious appetite of their own, wreaking havoc on the shellfish industry and the ecosystem. 'They're omnivores, so they eat everything, including a lot of our really important species and commercial species, like soft-shell clam,' Adrienne Pappal, habitat and water quality program manager for the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, told Fox News Digital. Green crabs have been in New England since the mid-to-late 1980s, making their way from Europe and West Africa via cargo ships. 5 The New England seafood industry is trying to control the population of the invasive green crab species. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The crabs have broad environmental tolerances, Pappal said, so they can live anywhere from intertidal to subtidal areas, from 30 to 100 feet. 'They have a lot of ways to survive, and that's why they've been really successful,' said Pappal. 'They are so widespread in the environment and can have a lot of different impacts.' Green crabs are hard on the shellfish industry in Massachusetts, according to Story Reed, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). 5 Green crabs can live anywhere from intertidal to subtidal areas, from 30 to 100 feet. Oleg Kovtun – 'On the North Shore, there are five towns that have done eradication programs that have been mostly funded through the state to pay fishermen to go out and try to eradicate these things,' Reed told Fox News Digital. 'We've recently heard from towns in the Cape Cod area who are also interested in eradication programs because they're seeing impacts to their shellfish as well.' Fisherman Jamie Bassett, of Chatham, Massachusetts, said he's seen that firsthand. 5 'On the North Shore, there are five towns that have done eradication programs,' Story Reed, deputy director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, said. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'We have an issue with green crab,' he told Fox News Digital. 'A gravid female – gravid meaning egg-bearing – can, I believe, disperse up to 180,000 eggs into the water.' 'We have an issue with green crab.' Bassett said he frequently encounters hundreds of gravid females. 'The issue of green crab as an invasive species is not going to go away,' he said. 'One, because they reproduce so much. And two, because it's just not a sought-after species.' Finding a market for green crabs is a challenge, he said. 'How many pounds of green crabs is a restaurant going to order from one of the seafood wholesalers in Boston?' he said. 5 Sharon St. Ours with a commercial quantity jar of the company's new Crab Broth Powder. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'They're not too edible. It's not like you can pick through them like a lobster. You'll die of old age before you pick through a green crab for a thimble of it.' But Sharon St. Ours, whose family has been in the seafood business for 45 years, is hoping to change that. 'As it turns out, they're 'really delicious.'' 'When I learned how they were devastating the oyster population because of their numbers, I turned to my dad and said, 'We can do something about this problem,'' St. Ours told Fox News Digital. 'We got some crabs and cooked them.' 5 St. Ours & Company's new product broth powder, is made from the invasive green crab. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images As it turns out, they're 'really delicious,' she said. 'Their broth is a lot sweeter than any other crabs that I've used to make shellfish broth. It's a lot sweeter than lobster broth.' St. Ours & Company officially debuted its crab broth powder, after three years in the making, at the Seafood Expo North America trade show in March. It was named a finalist in the food service category. 'It's not profitable yet and I have more to sell,' she said. 'But I do have a lot of interest in it.' The broth was partially funded by the DMF's seafood marketing program. 'It was really neat to see it get that recognition at an international show and get to taste it,' Reed said. 'I think it's the creativity, the willingness to try new species, both from [the] consumer's perspective and from chefs in the culinary world. It's great that people are trying these different things.'
USA Today
03-03-2025
- Health
- USA Today
US tackles bird flu: See outbreak's impact on animals, farm and vaccines
US tackles bird flu: See outbreak's impact on animals, farm and vaccines Dawn O'Connell, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, gets a look at the syringe filler during a tour of bird flu vaccine manufacturer CSL Seqirus in Holly Springs, N.C., in 2024. Alex Boerner, USA TODAY Network Ravens and a gull feed on the carcass of a Canada goose on Oldham Pond in Pembroke, Mass., Jan. 29, 2025. Across the South Shore bird flu is killing waterfowl on ponds. Many of the dead birds are being eaten by raptors or scavengers. Greg Derr, The Patriot Ledger Via USA TODAY Network A pod of dolphins feeds in the Haulover Canal in Titusville, Fla., Jan. 6, 2025. Scientists have confirmed the bird flu virus in three dead dolphins. Craig Bailey, Florida Today Via USA TODAY Network Broox Daniel demonstrates how to swab the throat of a chicken to test for avian flu on her daughter's buff brahma chicken named Flash at their EB Daniel Farm in Olalla, Wash., Jan. 8, 2025. Meegan M. Reid, Kitsap Sun Via USA TODAY Network Filled vaccines are inspected using a Brevetti inspection system at the CSL Seqirus vaccine manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, N.C., in 2024. Alex Boerner, USA TODAY Network A demonstration of the shoe wash and disinfecting bath used before staffers enter the zoo's vet hospital holding area where some birds are settled. With bird flu hitting the U.S., the zoo has implemented many precautions to keep its animals and workers safe. Kris Craig, The Providence Journa Via USA TODAY Network The remains of a Canada goose after it was eaten by a predator on Hobart Pond in Whitman, Mass. Across the South Shore bird flu is killing waterfowl on ponds. Many of the dead birds are being eaten by raptors or scavengers on Jan. 29, 2025. Greg Derr, The Patriot Ledger Via USA TODAY Network Chatham Animal Control Officer Diane Byers picks up a dead sea duck on Scatteree Landing in Chatham, Mass., Feb. 5, 2025. Area officials were responding to concerns about the H5N1 avian flu that has caused death in birds. Merrily Cassidy, Cape Cod Times Via USA TODAY Network A dead Red-breasted Merganser sits on the shore of 31st Street Beach after dead birds began washing ashore on Lake Michigan, prompting a warning from health authorities ahead of tests for bird flu, in Chicago, Ill., Feb. 5, 2025. Vincent Alban, Reuters A sign for customers shopping for eggs at Trader Joe's hangs by cartons of eggs in Merrick, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2025. Shannon Stapleton, Reuters HDC receiving staff prep arriving milk samples for testing at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University on Dec. 10, 2024 in Ithaca, N.Y. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week issued a federal order that requires the testing of the nation's milk supply amid increasing concerns over HPAI (a strain of the H5N1 avian flu), which has been raising alarm since it was first detected in a Texas cow. In July 2024, New York lawmakers gave $19.5 million in order to expand the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University, after avian flu was confirmed to be spreading to dairy cattle. The virus has spread to over 710 dairy herds across 15 states. Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images Cows from a non-suspect herd are milked at the Cornell Teaching Dairy Barn at Cornell University on Dec. 11, 2024 in Ithaca, N.Y.. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week issued a federal order that requires the testing of the nation's milk supply amid increasing concerns over H5N1 (avian flu), which has been raising alarm since it was first detected in a Texas cow. In July 2024, New York lawmakers gave $19.5 million in order to expand the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University, after avian flu was confirmed to be spreading to dairy cattle. The virus has spread to over 710 dairy herds across 15 states. Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images ITHACA, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 11: A sample of milk is taken from a cow from a non-suspect herd to be tested at the Cornell Teaching Dairy Barn at Cornell University on December 11, 2024 in Ithaca, New York. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week issued a federal order that requires the testing of the nation's milk supply amid increasing concerns over H5N1 (avian flu), which has been raising alarm since it was first detected in a Texas cow. In July 2024, New York lawmakers gave $19.5 million in order to expand the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University, after avian flu was confirmed to be spreading to dairy cattle. The virus has spread to over 710 dairy herds across 15 states. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images Chickens are transported on a semi-truck trailer along Highway 99 near Fresno, Calif., on Feb. 12, 2025. A resurgence of avian flu, which first struck the United States in 2022, is hitting chicken farms hard, sending egg prices soaring and rattling consumers accustomed to buying this dietary staple for only a few dollars. Patrick T. Fallon, AFP Via Getty Images Empty shelves of eggs are seen in a supermarket in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Feb. 20, 2025. The recent U.S. outbreak of bird flu since early 2024 is exacting a heavy toll on poultry farms. More than 21 million egg-laying hens have been "depopulated" this year so far, after 13.2 million were culled in December, according to the US Department of Agriculture. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU, AFP Via Getty Images Chickens stand in a henhouse at Sunrise Farms on Feb. 18, 2025 in Petaluma, Calif. As egg prices continue to skyrocket due to the avian flu outbreak, egg farmers are having to invest millions of dollars in biosecurity efforts to keep their flocks safe. Fourth-generation egg farm Sunrise Farms in Petaluma lost 550,000 chickens to avian flu in December of 2023, marking the first time in 112 years that the main family farm had no chickens. It took Sunrise Farms over a year to rebuild their flock to 900,000 chickens that produce nearly 500,000 eggs a week. Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Mike Weber, co-owner of Sunrise Farms, holds a chicken inside a henhouse at his farm on February 18, 2025 in Petaluma, Calif. As egg prices continue to skyrocket due to the avian flu outbreak, egg farmers are having to invest millions of dollars in biosecurity efforts to keep their flocks safe. Fourth-generation egg farm Sunrise Farms in Petaluma lost 550,000 chickens to avian flu in December of 2023, marking the first time in 112 years that the main family farm had no chickens. It took Sunrise Farms over a year to rebuild their flock to 900,000 chickens that produce nearly 500,000 eggs a week. Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Defective eggs are discarded from an egg washer at Sunrise Farms on Feb. 18, 2025 in Petaluma, Calif. As egg prices continue to skyrocket due to the avian flu outbreak, egg farmers are having to invest millions of dollars in biosecurity efforts to keep their flocks safe. Fourth-generation egg farm Sunrise Farms in Petaluma, California lost 550,000 chickens to avian flu in December of 2023, marking the first time in 112 years that the main family farm had no chickens. It took Sunrise Farms over a year to rebuild their flock to 900,000 chickens that produce nearly 500,000 eggs a week. Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Eggs are displayed for sale on the street in Chinatown on Feb. 25, 2025 in New York City. The wholesale price for a dozen eggs in U.S. cities hit $4.95 last month. That is more than 50% higher than this time last year and is beginning to affect household budgets. Spencer Platt, Getty Images
