Lobster emergency: we still have time to control the plague

Lobster is one of the oldest and most important pests in the world, where its impact puts food security at risk. In Argentina, lobster was considered the most important pest until the first half of the 20th century, when considerable resources were used to control it, starting a recession phase. This period was broken in 2015 with the resurgence of the pest, putting the agricultural sector in check, not only in Argentina, but also in several countries in South America, where phytosanitary emergencies were also declared and persist. Argentina knew how to have the best preventive management system in the world; today it is maintained in terms of experience but not in financial resources. When it was possible to contain the plague, decades ago, there was a Directorate of Acridiology, with enough resources to respond, which is far from the current situation where resources are scarce. For Juan Pablo Karnatz, CRA deputy secretary, in this new stage public-private intervention was key ...