Italy: Blue crab is destroying the production of mussels, clams and oysters in the Adriatic

The blue crab dossier arrives on the table of the EU Commission. The MEP Susanna Ceccardi (Lega/ID) is asking for support for fish farms, after the alarm raised by fishermen's associations and cooperatives. Strong, voracious, fast, this crustacean originally from the Atlantic has invaded the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian coasts, halving the production of clams, mussels and oysters (100 million euro sector) and undermining the fry of sea bass and sea bream. The massive presence of the alien predator (apart from the attempt to enhance the rather valuable product in the kitchen), makes disposal very expensive, estimated at 100,000 a day by Fedagripesca-Confcooperative. The most affected fish operators are those of Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Tuscany, with the hot fronts of Goro, Scardovari and Orbetello: in the Po delta alone there are already 3 thousand businesses at risk. In the urgent question presented to the European Commission, Ceccardi asks the EU to quantify the financial support to ...