Cormorants, seagulls and blue crabs: alarm also in Sardinia for "fish thieves"

The fishing sector is alarmed by the voracity of cormorants. The alert, launched by Fedagripesca, starts from Tuscany, in Orbetello, but also concerns Sardinia, Puglia and all the other parts of Italy where there are sea, ponds, lakes and lagoons.

The excessive presence of this aquatic bird is in fact leading to an "unsustainable situation" devouring sea bream, sea bass and mullet. Equipped with excellent eyesight, the cormorant can live up to 24 years, eats up to 10 kilos of fish a month , among other things leaving fish injured in predatory activity with the risk of spreading diseases and parasites.

Sardinia - underlines Fedagripesca - is doubly affected, with blue crabs and cormorants in the inland waters and dolphins and seagulls in the open sea, which follow the fishing boats to steal the spoils.

Same situation in Puglia, where the cormorants have more than tripled and from migratory to sedentary.

But "it is not just an economic question - notes Fedagripesca-Confcooperative - because the entire ecosystem is threatened".

(Unioneonline/lf)