UPDATE: Italy Puts 10 Million Euros into Fighting Invasive Blue Crabs | Chesapeake Bay Magazine

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Home<br>Wild Chesapeake<br>UPDATE: Italy Puts 10 Million Euros into Fighting Invasive Blue Crabs

The story unfolded on the Mediterranean coast of Italy, but quickly made headlines on the Chesapeake Bay. A few years ago, blue crabs, a non-native species in Italy, started turning up in fishermen’s traps by the ton along the northeast coast. While this might sound like a Maryland or Virginia waterman’s dream, the Italian fishermen and the government consider it a major problem. An emergency was declared in 2023, and today, Italy is doubling down on its efforts to eliminate blue crabs.

Here on the Bay, we cherish our crabs. We count down the months until crab season (it’s officially begun!), take pride in our hard-working watermen, and endlessly debate who has the best crabcake or the right way to pick a crab. In Italy, meanwhile, the government laments an unwanted invasion of the same crabs. Italians see "our" crab as a dreaded invasive species, the way we see snakeheads or blue catfish wreaking havoc on our native species.

Ballast water is now regulated to prevent invasive species being introduced in foreign waterways. Photo: USDA

Like our invasive fish, the blue crab was released into foreign waters by human interventions without regard to the potential negative impacts. It is believed that blue crabs were in the ballast water of ships, swept up in North America and released into the water overseas. This practiced is addressed in an international treaty, created in 2017 to prevent the spread of potentially invasive species through ships’ ballast water by setting standards about how and where it can be released.

When we reported on the Italian crab problem in 2023, Veneto regional governor Mr. Luca Zaia had just made a television address warning of the ecological dangers of the "American blue crab". He said the species was rapidly taking hold, and 326 tons of crab had been harvested in less than a year.

Last summer, Italy’s Agriculture Minister appointed the first ever "Commissioner for the Blue Crab", Pref. Enrico Caterino, to tackle the spread. Advocates for the agricultural and fishing industries say the crabs are feasting on Italian clams, estimating the damage to clam populations has cost fisherman up to 100 million euros since the emergency began.

In January, Caterino announced a 10-million-euro "intervention plan to contain and combat the phenomenon of the spread and proliferation of the blue crab species". The Contenimento del Granchio Blu plan, allocated for 2025 and 2026, aims to protect biodiversity and prevent further economic damage in the regions most affected by the crabs. Leaders will work to contain and dispose of blue crabs, protect existing aquaculture, and look for alternative uses for the large volume of crabs.

An Italian-style blue crab red sauce. Photo by Nicole Zehner.

The most obvious way to get an invasive species out of the water? Harvest it. When Zaia raised the alarm about the crabs in 2023, the government began urging Italians to harvest and eat blue crabs to decrease their population. The Italian blue crab quickly became a culinary novelty. Grocery stores in the northeast region began carrying blue crabs (live, on ice in the seafood section). Because of their abundance, the crabs are far less expensive than those on the Chesapeake, and comparably huge in size.

At the time, we spoke with a Venetian man who had lived in Maryland during college, had fond memories of blue crabs, and quickly embraced their arrival on the Italian seafood scene.

Cesare Barban, who lives in the northeast province of Treviso, introduced his Italian friends to the species with a Maryland-inspired "crab feast". He steamed live blue crabs with the Old Bay he ordered on Amazon, and even served corn on the cob alongside. While the Italians didn’t have proper crab mallets, they found an impromptu solution for...