A one-night dinner event is putting an unusually hopeful conservation idea on the table: If an invasive species is damaging local ecosystems, eat it.
On Friday, May 22, LaSalle College will host Eat the Invaders, a charitable event that brings together a dozen chefs to cook with European green crab and other invasive or overly abundant species, the Vancouver Sun reported.
The idea is straightforward but compelling: transform ecological troublemakers into something delicious while helping protect coastal habitats and raising money for restoration work.
That makes the dinner more than a novelty tasting. It offers a community-driven response to a problem that can often feel difficult to solve.
European green crabs may be small, but they have become a serious threat on both Canada's west and east coasts. According to the Sun, the species harms eelgrass areas, disturbs shellfish beds, and pushes native crabs into competition for prey.
Because invasive species are notoriously difficult to eliminate once established, advocates say encouraging people to harvest and eat them could become one practical way to help reduce their numbers.
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Robyn Cort of Swallow Tail, a chef organizing the event, has also been running foraging classes to teach people how, where, and when to gather invasive species responsibly. In British Columbia, green crabs can be taken with a regular fishing license, making it easier for locals to get involved.
That matters for both residents and the environment. A larger market for edible invasive species could create more incentive for removal, support shoreline restoration efforts, and introduce a new local food source. Protecting eelgrass and shellfish habitat is also important for coastal communities that depend on healthy waters for recreation, biodiversity, and regional food systems.
The event will put that idea into practice in a creative way. Participating chefs from restaurants, including Michelin-starred Burdock & Co, Pacific Reach, Boulevard Kitchen, and Acorn, will prepare dishes with ingredients such as green crab, blackberries, bamboo, and sea urchin. Some of those ingredients are invasive, while others, such as sea urchin, are native species whose numbers have grown enough to cause ecological damage.
Proceeds from the dinner will go to the Peninsula Streams Society, a Vancouver Island charity focused on ecological restoration, environmental education, and community stewardship.
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As Cort told the Sun, the green crab is "incredibly voracious," and in some parts of Vancouver Island, "they can catch up to 600 pounds a day in season."
She also made the culinary case for removing them, saying: "For soups and stocks, I'd say it's a better crab than our local Dungeness. So good to eat."
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