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In 2018, when the first Green Crab Working Summit was held, it was an attempt by researchers at �鶹�� Extension, NH Sea Grant and Manomet Conservation Sciences to inspire an industry around the harvesting and processing of an invasive species. By the time the second summit was held in Portland, Maine, in June 2026, that industry was alive and growing. 

The emergence of the industry has been a robust validation of that , which was organized by �鶹�� Extension and New Hampshire Sea Grant in partnership with Manomet Conservation Sciences. Green crabs, native to Europe, have been seen on the Eastern Seaboard since at least 1817 but warming waters have been pushing them steadily northward. The goal of summit organizers was to come up with a way to make use of the crabs. In doing so, they hoped to relieve some of the pressure the crabs are placing on native species and slow down the ecological and economic damage that they were causing.

“When I started, nobody was doing anything with them,” recalls Gabriela Bradt, fisheries and aquaculture specialist for �鶹�� Extension and NH Sea Grant, who along with Marissa McMahan from Manomet Conservation has been pioneering the green crab industry in New England. “Harvesters are actively targeting these crabs and selling them; people are beginning to start businesses and making products out of them. It’s on people’s radar much more than it ever had been.”

The first Green Crab Summit, held in 2018, was held to showcase and characterize the research done to that point and establish connections and working partnerships. For the second summit, the focus was turned to the industry that the research enabled.

Mary Parks helped organize the initial summit and her organization, GreenCrab.org, which she founded in 2020, was one of the hosts, along with Extension, NH Sea Grant, and Manomet, for this year’s summit. 

“A lot of people are working with green crabs, not just because they see an ecological value in removing them from the ecosystem but because of the culinary value,” says Parks. She adds that between 2020 and 2025, the number of restaurants around the country that have served green crab at least once increased twelvefold to 112.

There can be a bit of a learning curve for Western-trained chefs, as green crabs are smaller than those that North American restaurants typically serve. However, in southern Europe, where green crabs are native, and in Southeast Asia, where there are other crabs of similar size, small crustaceans are prized for use in fish sauces and powdered broths, or as the base for a bisque.

Several businesses in New England have learned from those traditions to add to their own product lines, Parks notes. Meanwhile, Bradt’s research has led to new ways to use the crab, such as in fertilizer, fish sauce, eaten whole while its shell is soft, or even in a whiskey.

Bradt says the goal isn’t eradication, as that isn’t feasible in the Northeast. Instead, she hopes the industry can remove enough green crabs to give local species a chance to protect their own populations.

The work of researchers continues, with the goal of finding yet more ways to entice enterprise. Bradt founded and leads the , which began with basic ecological and biological research and now includes market and fishery development. The project includes the Great Green Crab Hunt, a participatory science program that invites members of the public to help track the crab population.

“We started out with nothing, NH Sea Grant/Extension and Manomet have been instrumental in market and fishery creation, business development, and industry support and bringing the necessary stakeholders to the table,” says Bradt. “People are trying to figure out how to take it further.”

Parks says there is now an industry full of people with vested interests in serving green crabs. She remembers when it was just a few people with a big idea. Now it’s a growing industry, thanks to the innovation and collaboration of hard-working partners.

Parks says, “It’s so important that we have collaboration between chefs and culinary organizations and the research community. That’s the power of organizations that can work across these groups.”