Summer & Fall 2025 ~ Newsletter

PCRG Coordinator
Sep 18
3 min read

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SAVE THE DATE

Dungeness Crab Research Symposium

February 11-12, 2026 | Suquamish, WA

Connect with researchers, co-managers, and stakeholders at our annual symposium.

Registration opens December 2025 – stay tuned for details.

Call for Presentations:

Submit a talk topic to pnwcrab@gmail.com by November 1, 2025

Active Projects

Larval Crab Monitoring

The 2025 larval crab monitoring season is wrapping up, marking the PCRG network’s 7th consecutive year of light trap sampling. This season’s highlights include:

50 light trap sites across the Salish Sea: 20 sites in Washington (coordinated by Puget Sound Restoration Fund) and 30 sites in British Columbia (coordinated by Hakai Institute) contributed to this year’s monitoring effort.
Expanded environmental data collection: Eight WA sites added salinity monitoring to their data collection this year, with several sites deploying temperature loggers in the off-season to collect year-round data.
Photo-based measurement pilot: Building on methods implemented by the BC network, seven WA sites tested a new approach to measuring megalopae by comparing traditional caliper measurements with values extracted from photos using ImageJ software.
Collaborative research: In South Puget Sound, the Zittel’s light trap provided plankton samples for a University of Portland study led by Dr. Paola Lopez-Duarte, investigating whether light traps can serve as an effective early detection tool for larval European green crab.

Pulling the light trap at Shilshole Bay Marina.

Check out our new Light Trap Toolkit page for trap construction resources and step-by-step video tutorial.

Juvenile Dungeness crabs captured during an intertidal survey.

Crab tagging demonstration in Port Townsend.

Adult Dungeness crabs captured during biomass survey.

Intertidal Monitoring

Using methods developed by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC), PCRG’s intertidal survey scope expanded from three sites in 2024 to ten sites in 2025. In August, Claire Cook (University of Washington) led juvenile crab surveys at seven historic intertidal survey locations across South and Central Puget Sound with help from undergraduate volunteers. Port Townsend Marine Science Center staff and volunteers conducted a survey in August at one site in Admiralty Inlet, and SITC conducted monthly surveys at two sites in North Puget Sound.

Adult Crab Survey

The PCRG Adult Crab Working Group held a crab tagging demonstration and shell condition workshop in June in Port Townsend, where participants gained hands-on tagging experience and compared different approaches for grading shell hardness. The working group convened in April and July to share updates and discuss ongoing projects, including:

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe: Preparing a year-long survey of shell conditions in Crab Management Region 3-2 (Central Strait of Juan de Fuca) to assess peak molt periods and explore spatial patterns in shell hardness.
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST): Conducted two Dungeness crab biomass assessment surveys in March and May/June using a stratified random sampling design across Crab Management Region 2-West (Central Puget Sound).
Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW): Conducted a crab tagging pilot study in Port Townsend Bay.
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (SITC): Conducted a crab tagging pilot study in Similk Bay – read more about the study here.

Population Genetics

In June, Jay Dimond (Western Washington University), Katelyn Bosley (WDFW), Elizabeth Tobin (Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe), and Sarah Grossman (SITC) presented findings from PCRG’s population genetics study to Puget Sound co-managers. The project team is preparing two publications to document their work – stay tuned for updates!