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Italy's clam industry under threat from blue crab 'invasion' (www.reuters.com)

submitted 2 years ago by tal@kbin.social to c/europe@feddit.de

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A particularly aggressive crab species from the western Atlantic is threatening Italy's role as one of the world's top producers of clams - as well as, potentially, one of its signature pasta dishes.

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 2 years ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

ROME, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A particularly aggressive crab species from the western Atlantic is threatening Italy's role as one of the world's top producers of clams - as well as, potentially, one of its signature pasta dishes.

The "blue crab", originally from the coast of north and south America, has spread across several lagoon-like locations in Italy, preying on local shellfish, fish roe and other aquatic life.

"Juveniles have been almost completely preyed on, for sure we will have next year a very big crisis and shortages in the market," Emanuele Rossetti from the Fishermen's Cooperative of the Polesine, part of the Po delta area, told Reuters.

Sasa Raicevich, a marine aquatic resources expert from the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), said the blue crabs are thought to have arrived in Italy via shipping bilge water.

"Today we caught about 12 (metric) tons ... we fish these kind of amounts every day, but we don't see a fall in the (crab) population", Rossetti said, adding that their numbers started to get out of control in May.

Last week, farming lobby Coldiretti said the crab "invasion" was turning into a "natural calamity" threatening the survival of 3,000 family firms in the Po delta, and called for government support.

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