Italian fishermen in the Po River Delta, grappling with a devastating invasion of Atlantic blue crabs, have shifted from incinerating the crustaceans to commercializing them for export. This pivot aims to salvage the region's prized Manila clam and mussel industries, which have been decimated by the alien predator.
The invasion of the Atlantic blue crab, present in the Adriatic Sea since the 1940s but exploding in numbers since 2023, has severely impacted local fisheries. Federico Zago, a fisherman with the Polesine Fishermen’s Cooperative Consortium, saw his income plummet by 75% and the cooperative's active members shrink from 1,500 to 850. The cooperative's revenue fell to 15 million euros ($17 million) in 2024 and 2025.
"We needed to change strategy, and create an opportunity from this disaster," said Paolo Mancin, the cooperative's president. "Since we’re going to have to live with these crabs, I hope they become an opportunity."
The cooperative's strategy involves exporting the unwanted crabs. This year, the consortium has sold every crab it has caught, eliminating the need for incineration and forecasting 20 million euros ($23 million) in revenue, primarily from crab sales.
Climate change is cited as a key factor in the crab explosion. Higher water temperatures favor blue crab reproduction, while drought-driven drops in the Po River's water levels allowed saltwater to penetrate freshwater tributaries, creating ideal conditions for the crabs to thrive and prey on mollusks. "Climate change may therefore have favored reproduction through both temperature and salinity, because it changed the salinity of the water," said Piero Genovesi, an invasive species expert at Italy’s environmental protection institute.
A government eradication program in 2024, which involved paying fishermen to catch and incinerate millions of kilograms of crabs, has been shelved due to its ineffectiveness against the species' high reproductive rate.
University of Bologna scientists have released baby octopuses in an attempt to control the blue crab population, but experts and fishermen are skeptical about the predators' ability to manage the situation given the crabs' prolific breeding. "If an animal with such high reproductive potential finds suitable environmental conditions, predators may not be able to keep it under control," Genovesi noted.
The crabs are steamed, frozen, and packed for export, primarily to Sri Lanka, where workers manually extract the meat. A joint venture between a Sri Lankan company and the Scardovari consortium produces crab products for international markets, with plans for retail expansion in Italy and Europe. "We are all angry because it invaded our seas," said Stefania Marchesini, owner of the Yogi restaurant and bar in Porto Tolle, which offers an all-crab menu. "But we also have to eat. Once people understand how it should be prepared, they will realize it is an excellent product."
Despite these efforts, crab meat is not yet a common offering in many Italian restaurants, partly due to the labor involved in processing and cultural resistance. The earnings from crab, at 1.30 euros per kilogram, are significantly lower than those from clams, which once fetched 10 euros per kilogram and generated 90% of fishermen's income.