Italian scientists have become octopus breeders in the latest battle of a long running war against invasive blue crabs. Known for their sharp, blue-tinted claws the creatures are estimated to have wreaked €200 million worth of damage on the fishing industry.
From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, the scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has devastated local fisheries.
"We chose the octopus because, in the wild, it is a formidable predator of crustaceans," Antonio Casalini, one of the researchers, told the AFP news agency.
A single blue crab lays millions of eggs
Native to the North American Atlantic coast, blue crabs arrived in the Mediterranean decades ago, likely transported via ballast water from ships. But in 2023 their numbers exploded, obliterating the seafood Italy’s Po Delta is famous for, like mussels, ‘vongole veraci’ - a species of clam - and pink oysters.
