Recipe For Disaster: Green Crabs in The Great Marsh

Recipe For Disaster is the story of an ecological catastrophe in the making in four neighboring towns on the Massachusetts coast. As native scallops, mussels, clams, and protective eelgrass disappear under the explosive invasion of green crabs, scientists, local experts, and residents are scrambling to save the marsh from decimation. When faced with an invasive species and the prospect of ecological devastation, residents along the New England coast are in search of a sustainable solution to save the marsh. Recipe For Disaster tells the story of the little-known invasion that is threatening an entire New England ecosystem, and the struggle of local experts and residents to understand and prevent this catastrophe. Driven by the rising temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, billions of green crabs have overrun the abundant natural marshes on coastal Massachusetts, decimating the populations of clams, scallops, mussels, and eel grass that birds and fish depend upon to survive. In just a few short years of explosive population growth, the damage caused by green crabs has local residents and experts rushing to avert irreparable destruction with approaches such as transplanting eelgrass and paying fishermen to trap the crabs for compost. The most promising solution, however, is popping up on gourmet restaurant menus in the form of green crab roe. This short, powerful documentary film explores one aspect of the consequences of climate change that are echoed in coastal communities around the world, with stunning footage of the beautiful marshes and estuaries whose salvation may come on a dinner plate. (Newburyport Documentary Film Festival)