Octopus fights crab invasion

CESENATICO, Italy (AFP) — From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, Italian scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has devastated local fisheries.

A team from University of Bologna is betting that the common octopus can help contain the burgeoning population of blue crab — a voracious crustacean that has ravaged shellfish production in the Adriatic.

“We chose the octopus because, in the wild, it is a formidable predator of crustaceans,” Antonio Casalini, one of the researchers, told Agence France-Presse.

Native to the North American Atlantic coast, blue crabs arrived in the Mediterranean decades ago, likely transported via ballast water from ships.

But their numbers have ballooned in recent years, with the government and fishing groups linking the boom to warming waters and climate change.

With sharp, blue-tinted claws that are particularly apt at prying open shells, they have wreaked havoc in Italy’s northeast — one of Europe’s top clam producing regions.

Authorities in Bologna’s Emilia-Romagna region said last year the species has caused almost 17 million euros ($20 million) in damages there since 2022.

Farming and fishing group Coldiretti has put the figure at about 200 million for the whole of Italy, with the northern Veneto region also badly affected.

“It eats everything including young clams lying on the seabed,” said Davide Sanulli, a fisherman and mussels farmer with thick eyebrows and grizzled hair, said of the crab.