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 people 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 invasive green crabs
Educate harvesters and build supplier relationships to bring more people into the green crab fishery, especially underrepresented harvesters and those in vulnerable fisheries
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 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
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
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
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
Increasing chef participation in the fishery through networking events, free classes, and free consultations
Connecting green crab harvesters, providing free educational opportunities, and increasing harvester participation in the green crab fishery
PRESS
Modern Farmer: Building a Market for Invasive Species
Food & Wine: Where to Taste New England's Wave of Eco-Friendly Seafood
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
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.
Daniel Wang
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.
Jamile Bassett
Jamie is a green crab harvester, kelp farmer, and charter boat captain hailing from Chatham Massachusetts. He’s also the co-founder of Chatham Kelp and Shellfish Broker. Learn more about Jamie’s work with green crabs here.
Kathleen Standridge
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.
Megan Cronin
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.
Patrick McMurray
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.
Youji Iwakura
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.
GREENCRAB.ORG ADVISORS
Alon Arguello: Policy Advisor
Alon 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.
Jason Jarvis: Harvester Advisor
Jason is a commercial green crab harvester, the Board President of the North American Marine Alliance, and a Co-Founder of Quonochontaug Food Cooperative. He’s supplied green crabs to James Beard Award-winning restaurants such as The Shipwright’s Daughter and is a leader in the culinary fishery. He’s also worked on oyster farms and brings a unique perspective to the intersection of the oyster industry and green crab fishery.
John Painter: Harvester Advisor
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.
Kelsey Meyer-Rust: Scientific Advisor
Kelsey is a UNH PhD Candidate in Marine Biology and the former coordinator for the NH Shellfish Farmers Initiative. Her work investigates the relationship between green crabs and oyster farms and she recently published a paper integrating farmer perspectives on green crabs.
Michael Floreak: Culinary Advisor
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.
Sharon St. Ours: Culinary Advisor
Sharon leads St. Ours Broth, creating seafood broths that can be found in retailers across the country and are used as a base in a wide variety of products and dishes. After years of research and development, St. Ours is launching their green crab broth. Learn more about their broth here.
EXPLORE PAST EVENTS & PROGRAMS
Green Crab Week 2024
Free virtual events & increasing chef participation in the green crab fishery
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
Green Crabs X James Beard Platform
James Beard Award-Winner David Standridge’s October dinner featured green crabs in every dish
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
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
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
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