For many years, the blue crab has proliferated in the Mediterranean, unbalancing fragile ecosystems and impacting the lives of fishermen discouraged by this invasive species which destroys everything in its path.
Are the peaceful waters of the Mediterranean in danger? Some French lagoons face a major challenge: the explosive presence of an invasive species, the blue crab. Although it is native to North America, this voracious and imposing crustacean has been present for a long time in the Mediterranean, notably near Tunisia, but also in our ponds.
LFemales can lay up to 2 million eggs in one go. Knowing that there can be two or three spawnings per year, the proliferation of the blue crab is phenomenal and endangers the ecosystems in which it develops, but not only that. Fishermen are also heavily affected by its presence as it is capable of cutting the strongest nets using its enormous pincers.
Fishermen ready to capitulate to the blue crab
If the blue crab is nicknamed the “Attila” crab, it is not by chance, it destroys everything in its path: algae, fish, molluscs…, and even fishermen’s nets. Its populations continue to grow, which threatens lagoon ecosystems and impacts the lives of traditional fishermen who, for some, are no longer far from abandoning everything.
Lthe teams of “1:15 p.m. Saturday” (X, #1:15 p.m.) went to Canet in the Pyrénées-Orientales, to Leucate in Aude but also to Biguglia in Haute-Corse, where this species was seen for the first time in 2014. Scientists, public authorities but also restaurateurs are trying to find solutions urgently to save these endangered professions and to counter this danger for biodiversity.
A documentary by Thibault Pomares, Frédéric Capron and Vincent Martin.
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