European Green Crab Monitoring in Gulf of St. Lawrence Estuaries

Fisheries and Oceans Canada provides presence, abundance, and size data for the invasive European green crab in southern Gulf of St. Lawrence estuaries. Monitoring occurs during ice-free seasons using baited Fukui traps, with data on crab counts, sex, size, and bycatch species. Data entry of morphological parameters is randomly verified for accuracy.

Use Cases

• Tracking invasive crab population trends based on temporal monitoring data.
• Analyzing bycatch interactions based on reported finfish, crab, and lobster counts.
• Studying environmental influences on crab distribution based on collected water depth, temperature, and sediment type.
• Assessing sex and size demographics of the invasive population based on collected morphological parameters.

Strengths

• Includes multiple biological parameters: crab count, size measurement, sex, and catch weight.
• Collects environmental data such as water depth, sediment type, salinity, and water temperature.
• Data entry of morphological parameters is randomly verified for accuracy.

Limitations

• Weights are not reported for Prince Edward Island sites due to inconsistent measurement protocols.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• The survey is limited to a few sites; absence on a map does not indicate absence in the region.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Baited trapping with Fukui traps during ice-free seasons.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-02 21:00:43.584795; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Selected southern Gulf of St. Lawrence estuaries along the Northumberland Strait coast of New Brunswick and eastern Prince Edward Island.