Along the Po Delta, the drought, with the lack of water to guarantee water exchange and the increase in salinity along the coast, is suffocating clams and mussels and has already led to the loss of 20% of farms. On the other hand, on the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Tuscany region asks for government intervention to save aquaculture in the Orbetello lagoon, where drought and headwinds prevent the water from growing and the temperature has reached 28 degrees, 5 degrees more than that of the sea: there is so little oxygen that the fish risk anoxia.
It is the other face of the drought emergency that is gripping our country in recent days, despite the first insufficient rains. The effects of climate change and overheating are not only felt in the fields, but also in the rest of primary activities, and even fish farms are not exempt from them.
In the Po mussel and clam farms, the rise in temperatures without the possibility of water changes is causing the so-called “white water” to expand like wildfire, delta areas where the decomposition of algae and organic substances steals the oxygen necessary for the life of clams and mussels, killing them. «Shellfish farms each year bring over 93 million kilos of mussels and clams to the tables of Italians – recalls Coldiretti Impresapesca – the climatic situation is endangering the work of hundreds of families of fishermen and fish farmers. If there is no radical change in weather conditions, the salinity level risks rising from 30 to 70 per thousand ”. The water emergency for the Po Delta clams is added to that represented by expensive fuels, with the average price of diesel for fishing which has practically doubled (+ 90%) compared to last year.
In Tuscany, the regional councilor for the environment, Monia Monni has already convened in recent days, and urgently, the technical table to assess the state of health of the Orbetello lagoon. Even in the lagoon farms the situation is worrying: the water temperature is now higher than that of the sea, the oxygenation is low and the combination of drought and headwinds prevents the water from growing. The result is that temperatures for farmed fish are unsustainable. In the next few days, the technicians of the region will carry out an inspection in Orbetello. Meanwhile, the deputy of the Democratic Party Luca Sani presented a parliamentary question asking for direct intervention by the State: “The ecological disasters that have occurred in recent years – he argues – have highlighted how the economic, structural and logistical resources of the competent local authorities are not absolutely sufficient to deal with these emergency situations “. Even the vice president of Fedagripesca Confcooperative Toscana, Andrea Bartoli, is worried: «With the high temperature of the waters equal to 28 degrees, five degrees higher than that of the sea, the damage to fishing is heavy, as well as to the environment. I hope the government strikes a beat and takes action ».