Scientists Seeking Non-Native Species on North Shore

Have you seen this shrimp? It's face is on environmental wanted posters.

The recent discovery of the fast-spreading European shrimp Palaemon elegans along the New England Coast is sounding an alarm among marine scientists.

The shrimp can grow to lengths of three inches or more and may prey on and compete with native species.

It was first discovered in in North America in Salem in 2010.

And right now scientists are looking for non-native species in Salem. 

On Monday, scientists began scouring docks and piers along the Massachusetts coast, from Cape Ann to Cape Cod, searching for and identifying potential invasive species.  

In New England coastal waters, the European green crab and Asian shore crab prey on commercially valuable shellfish, while other invasive species damage piers and pilings, clog pipes and cause public health problems through disease and pathogens. 

The inspection of permanent floating docks and rocky shores in Salem, Boston, Marshfield, Sandwich, Bourne, Woods Hole, New Bedford and Westport is being done to help determine if non-native species pose threats to the Commonwealth’s environment, economy and public health.

The work is being coordinated by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sea Grant, a research program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The four-day Massachusetts sweep is part of a six-day regional effort to collect, identify and catalog marine organisms in coastal waters from Maine’s mid-coast to Cape Cod and Rhode Island. Goals of the study include developing a baseline inventory of marine species, identifying species recently introduced to local ecosystems and helping natural resource managers prevent and control future invasions of non-nativespecies. Surveys in 2000, 2003, 2007 and 2010 revealed over 30 introduced marine organisms, several of which were identified for the first time in New England coastal waters.

The following is the research schedule for the rapid assessment survey:

·         August 5 - Hawthorne Cove Marina in Salem

·         August 6 - Rowes Wharf in Boston, Green Harbor Marina in Marshfield

·         August 8 - Sandwich Marina in Sandwich, Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne, Coast Guard Station in Woods Hole

·         August 9 - Pope’s Island Marina in New Bedford and F.L. Tripp and Son’s in Westport

In addition to CZM and the MIT Sea Grant, other organizations participating and providing funds and support for this week’s survey include the Massachusetts Bays Program, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Northeast Aquatic Nuisance Species Panel, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and Rhode Island Bays, Rivers, and Watersheds Coordination Team. Scientists participating in the project include two CZM staff as well as researchers hailing from the Netherlands, Brazil and the United States.

Information for this story came from a news release from the state office of energy and environmental affairs.