FROM 16 FEBRUARY COMPANIES IN THE FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE SECTOR WILL BE ABLE TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO OBTAIN STATE AID TO FACE THE FEARED BLUE CRAB. 10 MILLION ALLOCATED BY THE GOVERNMENT
The Italian State has allocated 10 million euros to give businesses a way to deal with the emergency blue crab. Companies and consortia operating in the fishing and of theaquaculture they will be able to access the allocation by applying starting from February 16th. The deadline for submitting the application is March 22nd.
The financing will be non-repayable and will help the companies to cope with fluctuations in the abundance of the blue crab, and to start sowing, repopulating and protecting the plants.
Blue crab emergency, another 10 million on the way
The provision is part of the actions implemented by Distance to counteract the unpredictable and excessive proliferation of the blue crab.
The current allocation comes after last months’ allocation of 2.9 million euros. An ad hoc fund of 500 thousand euros per year has also been established to reimburse part of the social security costs paid by aquaculture companies. The sums for capture and disposal have already been paid.
«Without forgetting that we also intervened to extend the application of the National Solidarity Fund, provided for by Legislative Decree 102 of 2004″explained the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida.
«I hope that the actions implemented by the government can transform an emergency into an opportunity. Because the blue crab can be a great resource both for its nutritional properties, in particular the strong presence of vitamin B12, and for the potential markets, including international ones, that can be reached. Furthermore, with the inclusion of the blue crab in the list of names of fish species of commercial interest, the valorisation of the product has begun, which will then have to be developed through a commercial strategy aimed at creating a real consumption chain”.
The alien crustacean also lands on Masterchef
The blue crab, a crustacean alien to our seas and therefore dangerous for native species, in addition to its reputation as a large predator, is also known for its deliciousness at the table.
Here because.
the infamous blue crab was among the protagonist ingredients of one of the tests involving the competitors of the thirteenth edition of the Sky program “Masterchef”hosted by chefs Bruno Barbieri, Antonino Canavacciuolo and Giorgio Locatelli.
An episode dedicated to food sustainability and care for the environment, the one aired in recent days and which featured chef Chiara Pavan as a guest who, together with her partner Francesco Brutto, is the owner of the restaurant “Venissa”, immersed in the Venetian lagoon and awarded the Michelin star and the Michelin green star, which rewards cutting-edge restaurants in the field of sustainability. Chef Pavan brought two invasive alien species from the Adriatic for the cooking test: the blue crab and the venous rapanagastropod mollusk native to the Sea of Japan.
In the Eataly restaurants of Turin, Milan, Rome, Genoa and Trieste arrive the blue crab ravioli. You can taste them at the table, but also take them away in trays to cook them comfortably at home, following a course on how to prepare the crustacean, organized by Eataly itself. The group, which announced the news with a post on Facebook, intends to make its contribution to finding a job for the clam killer, who this summer alone has decimated up to 70% of them.
Blue crab, emergency in Veneto and along the coasts
In recent days the prefects Clemente Di Nuzzo e Massimo Marchesiellorespectively of Rovigo e di Ferrara, chaired a meeting on the problems related to the proliferation of this species. The table brought together mayors and representatives of local authorities and institutions, as well as fishermen’s consortia, trade associations, trade unions, the academic and research world.
Also the Veneto has been challenged by the proliferation of the blue crab. The production of clams in the Venetian lagoons, for example, is almost zero. TO Porto Tollewhere a new cultivation has been confidently restarting in recent days, the Ispra and Arpav data relating to last December showed a mortality between 85 and 99%.
«These are numbers that show the drama of the situation, but the impact is also heavy in the other lagoons of Veneto, both for shellfish farms and for professional fishermen – commented the president of Veneto, Luca Zaia -. We are very worried about the next season, because we know that after the winter dormancy of these months the crab will return massively”.