The blue crab is now a "significant presence" also in Sardinia and remains under the spotlight of the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies for the risks and consequences that this invasive species can have on marine ecosystems.

To counteract its proliferation, Masaf itself has decided to allocate a total of 54 million euros, as announced by Minister Francesco Lollobrigida.

According to the plan presented, 44 million will be used in particular to compensate companies in the areas of sowing, repopulation and protection of livestock. In addition, they will cover reimbursements for the capture and protection of aquaculture and will incentivize research and technological development.

The implementation of the measures of the plan is coordinated by the National Extraordinary Commissioner, Enrico Caterino , appointed on 20 September 2024 with a mandate until 31 December 2026.

Caterino himself pointed out that «unfortunately the blue crab is not only present in Veneto and Emilia Romagna, but we have also verified its presence in a consistent manner in Sardinia , Puglia, Tuscany, Sicily».

"The implementation phase of the containment plan - added Caterino - includes interventions in collaboration with the fishing fleets of the areas concerned, therefore selective fishing . We will aim to capture females in the phase in which they are transitioning from the lagoon environment to the marine environment. Females deposit from 700,000 to 2 million eggs, some studies have even estimated around 8 million eggs deposited , we are not yet certain whether the deposit occurs only once or twice during the year".

(Online Union)

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