Italian fishing communities in the north of the country are fighting an invasion of predatory blue crabs which risks jeopardising the economy of whole regions, authorities have said.
The crab, originally from the coast of north and south America, has spread across several lagoon-like locations in Italy over the past year, preying on local shellfish and posing a threat to the country’s role as one of the world’s leading clam producers.
“We need people in Rome to understand that this disaster is putting at risk the lives of thousands of families and businesses,” said the governor of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, after a summit on Monday.
“This invasion risks destroying an economy which not only provides a livelihood for a community, but which is an Italian and European excellence, together with other identity products of this region like Parma ham or Parmigiano.”
Fishing communities in the affected regions have been advised to capture as many blue crabs as they can in at attempt to control their population. In the Po River delta, however, such efforts have proven largely ineffective.
About 326 tonnes of the aggressive invasive species have already been caught in Veneto this year, including 84 tonnes in Scardovari and 29 tonnes in Pila just in August.
According to the fishers’ association Fedagripesca-Confcooperative, the crabs have already caused economic damage put at about €100m (£85m) in Italy as a whole, and have devoured up to 90% of young clams in the Po delta, causing severe damage to future production.