If this is half as bad as that, we'd have two predators we don't need. Oysters, which do not naturally live in Grays Harbor, are bred by three growers that collectively employ about 130 people. In recent years, they have had problems with harvesting shutdowns caused by sewage and wastewater bypasses from the Weyerhaeuser Co. and the city of Aberdeen. But those shutdowns are only temporary, Associated Seafoods' Braun said. The green crab threatens to become a permanent thorn in the industry's side.
Nobody generally panics too much.
Both Braun and Linn said they have no plans right now to change their way of growing oysters. For now, Braun said, their goal is to work closely with the state to track the predators. That could mean money for eradication efforts or simply more study of the crab infestation.