A Placentia Bay fisherman says it’s like an alien invasion.
Roy Murphy of Long Harbour is talking about the European green crab, an invasive species that has taken over parts of Placentia Bay and is leaving destruction in its wake.
Murphy is involved in a research fishery in conjunction with Memorial University and says it’s no time before the pots he sets are literally crawling with green crab.
He says the pots are “plugged” and now that it’s spawning season, the females are carrying up to 250,000 eggs.
Murphy considers it an ecological emergency and says government is doing little to address it. He says there are markets for green crab in places like Asia and the Mediterranean, yet there are no markets here to help eradicate the problem.