Blue crab, Coldiretti: damages of 100 million euros. Veneto, the most affected region

“The blue crab has caused damages of 100 million euros to Italian fishermen to date, devastating clam and mussel farms but also wiping out oysters, clams, other crustaceans and fish such as sole and grey mullet, for a bill that risks doubling if measures are not taken to stop the invasion of the ‘killer of the seas'”. This is the balance drawn up by Coldiretti Pesca at the Villaggio di Venezia, with Veneto being the region most affected by the emergency.

For the occasion, an exhibition of the species most at risk due to the invasion of the alien species native to the Atlantic coasts of America was set up, while the chefs, fishermen and farmers of Campagna Amica prepared a series of recipes to enhance the fearsome predator in the kitchen, with capture for consumption being today the most valid solution to address the problem.

The most serious damages on the Po Delta

“The Po Delta is the area where the presence of the blue crab is causing the greatest damage – continues Coldiretti -. Starting from spring 2023 and to date, both on the Veneto and Emilian sides, the production of clams has been practically eliminated, with the predator capable of literally crushing the shells after having pulled them out of the sand of the seabed. The mussel farms have also been devastated, starting with the prized Scardovari Dop. A situation that threatens the survival of over 2,000 families in the area a large part of the employees of cooperatives and consortia who find themselves on redundancy pay and with difficulty for the employees of individual businesses who cannot benefit from it”.

Deadly threat to aquaculture

“A mortal threat to a sector, that of aquaculture, which is one of the flagships of Made in Italy fishing with a production value of around half a billion euros, where the heaviest item is represented by mussels, with clams in third place. But the production of oysters is also growing and is becoming a Made in Italy excellence – Coldiretti reports -. A sector that could acquire ever greater importance considering that in 2022 at a global level, for the first time in history, aquaculture has surpassed capture fishing as the main sector of production of aquatic animals, according to the latest report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Faced with the spread of what is listed by science among the worst invasive species introduced in the Mediterranean, with a very serious impact on lagoon ecosystems that is today only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of a real ecological catastrophe, the solution is the promotion of the consumption of blue crab, with the creation of a supply chain that involves fishing, large-scale distribution, restaurants and agritourism”.

The recipes

“At the Villaggio di Venezia, some blue crab dishes were presented, created by the imagination of the fishermen and farmer chefs of Campagna Amica. An opportunity that 54% of Italians agree with, according to the Coldiretti/Ixe’ survey presented for the occasion, between an 8% who have already put a blue crab dish on their plate and a 46% who would be willing to do so, while a similar 46% would not try them. The goal – concludes Coldiretti – is to help contain the excessive spread of the crab, which is taking over the seabed of our coasts, identifying economic opportunities for the hard-hit territories”.