Chinese crabs invade Sussex coastal waters (From The Argus)
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Chinese crabs invade Sussex coastal waters
4:38pm Monday 13th July 2009 in
An invasion of alien crabs is causing havoc along the Sussex coast.
Colonies of the Chinese mitten crab, a native of the Far East, have been found off the coast of Littlehampton and Shoreham.
Numbers of the crustacean have been soaring in the Adur and Arun because they are free from predators and diseases.
Conservationists, who believe the crab was transported by shipping and dumped in ballast water, fear its presence could damage the ecosystem.
The Sussex Biodiversity Partnership believes it could threaten native species of fish and the endangered white-clawed crayfish.
It also warned the crab could cause significant damage to riverbanks through its burrowing.
A spokesman for the group said: “Non-native species didn’t evolve here. This means they have none of the usual predators, parasites and pathogens that keep populations of our native species in check, which can give them a distinct advantage.”
The group lists the crab among 49 species that are considered to pose a threat in Sussex.
Conservation charity WWF warned that about 7,000 marine and coastal species travel across the world’s oceans every day.
It estimated invasive species have cost marine and coastal activities worldwide £30 billion in the last five years.
Comments(10)
Lady Smith
says...
5:04pm Mon 13 Jul 09
Whitedot
says...
5:21pm Mon 13 Jul 09
Lady Smith wrote:Sheesh. Wish I'd thought of that.
Don't tell me: they're crust-asians!
CARTMAN
says...
5:32pm Mon 13 Jul 09
Can not make anything ourselves ? ? ? ? ?
SECURIY WORD? data-fact
Jim BB
says...
5:40pm Mon 13 Jul 09
Conor
says...
6:33pm Mon 13 Jul 09
Security word able-fish. I'm sure they aren't chosen at random.
alice1
says...
6:50pm Mon 13 Jul 09
security word
unit-land
Tye
says...
8:03am Tue 14 Jul 09
look up hypochrisy!
anyone notice - no comments allowed on the Jordan story ?
tilburyre
says...
10:02am Tue 14 Jul 09
RickH
says...
1:26pm Tue 14 Jul 09
tilburyre wrote:Sadly, in this case, your observation is a little wide of the mark. Chinese mitten crabs have become established in other parts of the country - some parts of the Thames - and the results were the same as highlighted here ie undermining of rivers banks, the forcing out of indigenous species due to lack of competition (no natural predators and diseases) plus a reduction in native cryafish species due to a disease the crabs carry - so their fears are based on direct observation and experience. The up-side is that these crabs are very edible (I've eaten some myself).
These so-called experts always wave the red flag in these situations. Their fear are almost always groundless but, I notice, they never come back and explain why they were wrong.
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mark 62 says...
4:50pm Mon 13 Jul 09