"Make it with pasta"... Italy Declares 'War on Flower Crabs' That Eat Clams

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Aquaculture of Key Ingredients Like Clams Also at Risk

Italy, struggling with a sudden increase in the population of blue crabs, has taken the initiative to develop 'blue crab recipes' itself. In Italy, where seafood cuisine is well-developed, the European blue crab has long been an unfamiliar ingredient. However, recently, as the European blue crab has entered the Italian coastline, the population of clams, a staple food for Italians, has sharply declined.

According to 'Euronews' on the 25th (local time), the Italian government is collaborating with local restaurants to develop blue crab dishes. This is because the recent influx of blue crabs into Italy's coastal waters has put the country's marine ecosystem at risk. The media described this as "not traditional, but essentially an Italian solution."

Blue crab. [Image source=Twitter]

The blue crab is native to the western Atlantic Ocean. According to Euronews, it is believed that these crabs spread into the Mediterranean by hitching a ride on cargo ships traveling from North America to Europe.

The problem lies in the fact that the Mediterranean Sea, where the Italian coast is located, has no natural predators for the blue crab. The blue crab has rapidly "spread" to other countries sharing the Mediterranean coastline, including Italy, Albania, Spain, and Tunisia.

The blue crab primarily feeds on shellfish such as clams. As the crabs voraciously consume the shellfish along the Italian coast, Italy's fishing grounds have been put on alert.

Italy is the world's third-largest clam producer after China and Korea, and its seafood consumption is high enough to enjoy dishes like 'Vongole Pasta.' However, as the blue crab population increases and clam numbers sharply decrease, aquaculture farmers have been pushed to the brink of closure.

For this reason, the Italian government even offered a bounty to eradicate the blue crabs. According to the UK’s 'The Times' on the 17th, the local government allocated a budget of 2.9 million euros (approximately 4.2 billion KRW) to reward those who capture and professionally dispose of blue crabs.

Luca Zaia, governor of Veneto, Italy, famous for its clam farms, declared a 'state of emergency.'

At a press conference, he showed the blue crab to reporters and said, "This crab is destroying everything and causing a disaster," urging, "We have declared a state of emergency and ask the (Italian) government to declare a national state of emergency as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.