The "blue crab", originally from the coast of north and south America, has spread across several lagoon-like locations in Italy, preying on local shellfish, fish roe and other aquatic life.
"Juveniles have been almost completely preyed on, for sure we will have next year a very big crisis and shortages in the market," Emanuele Rossetti from the Fishermen's Cooperative of the Polesine, part of the Po delta area, told Reuters. He said they were first detected about a decade ago, and it is still unclear why they are now multiplying with such speed. "There could be a link to climate change, but we have no evidence to say it for sure."Fishermen in affected areas have been advised to catch as many blue crabs as possible to curb their numbers, but in the Po delta valley efforts have not made much of a difference.