The blue crab alarm also arrives in Lazio. After having devastated the Po delta, the terrible killer crustacean has also arrived on our shores. A dramatic situation that is leading to the death of Lake Sabaudia. In fact, an enormous colony of blue crabs has formed in Lake Di Paola and are devastating the ecosystem of the body of water.
And now the risk is also for men: crabs also attack people, creating skin lacerations and wounds.
The identikit
Very strong, voracious, resistant and violent: these are the characteristics of the terrible killer crab, capable of killing fish weighing up to 10 kg. The blue crab, originally from the Atlantic coasts, can live up to 35 meters deep on sandy or muddy bottoms, can adapt to lagoons and estuaries. Its scientific name is Callinectes sapidus, which makes us understand that it is edible and above all very tasty: recognizable by its blue claws, it is one of the predators that increase biodiversity the most. In North America, on the Atlantic coasts, this crab has a large market and its price is close to that of lobsters. By now it has spread like wildfire also in Italy also because it reproduces very quickly.
Sos for the lake
A truly worrying situation is being experienced right in Sabaudia, in Lake Di Paola. The body of water of the Sabaudia lagoon, in fact, hosts a rich production of fish farming with mussels and oysters and is home to rowing and sailing sports. Since 1888 it has been owned by the Scalfati family, who bought the lake basin from Cavalier Giachetti, after the Italian state had alienated it in 1881. Here the blue crabs are invading every inch, eating everything: from fish to oysters, passing through plankton and now they risk being dangerous for canoeists too. “Marine biologists are analyzing the phenomenon – explains Anna Scalfati, owner of the lake – and have decreed the red alert. Hundreds of crabs have settled on the seabed and the females continue to lay thousands of eggs. No institution is addressing the problem that risks to be devastating for the entire ecosystem”
Fishing prohibited
Although the only solution is massive blue crab fishing, the Forest Service has recently fined some fishermen with very heavy penalties who had started fishing to resell the specimens to restaurants: “In Emilia Romagna and in the Venetian lagoon – continues Anna Scalfati – they understood the problem and are also encouraging fishing, here we are still at retrograde levels that risk killing the lake and our coasts”. And again: “It would be enough to organize intensive fishing with large steel pots to eliminate the root problem. I appeal to the Ministry of the Environment because we cannot go on like this. Among other things, the crab, given the incredible strength that it has in its socket, it can become a real risk also for humans and in particular for children.
The solutions
The owner of the Di Paola lake, rightly concerned about the situation linked to the blue crab, is looking for every way: “At the moment the optimal situation is the one already undertaken in Emilia and Veneto, or better to open fishing and allow the sale of crabs. Here , however, in the midst of an emergency we have been in for four years without the appointment of the director of the Circeo Park and therefore no one takes the trouble to sign any deed.Then, constant monitoring is needed with a control room to manage the situation and also use the waters of the lake to experiment with new strategies. For example, the addition of fresh water that crabs cannot tolerate. In short, there is no shortage of ideas, even in collaboration with biologists and experts. We need the will to implement them to prevent the lake from dying”.
Crab hunting restaurants
Meanwhile, in fish restaurants, blue crab curiosity is triggering a real black market weighing in gold because customers are increasingly asking for the specialty of the killer crab, which is among the most delicious in the world.
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