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VIDEO. “I hardly see any other solution than stopping”: on the Biguglia pond, in Corsica, fishermen are considering capitulating to the invasion of blue crabs
VIDEO. “I hardly see any other solution than stopping”: on the Biguglia pond, in Corsica, fishermen are considering capitulating to the invasion of blue crabs – (1:15 p.m. SATURDAY / FRANCE 2)
In the Biguglia pond, in Corsica, Michel and Pierre, two fishermen, are considering putting an end to their activity since the arrival of an invasive space that destroys everything in its path, the blue crab.
The blue crab is a species native to North America which appeared in the 1930s in Europe. It probably traveled in ballast water, used aboard ships to stabilize them and released upon arrival.
Present in the Mediterranean, this animal has gradually moved up European waterways to settle in lakes and ponds. In France, the various populations have exploded in recent years, as in the Biguglia pond, in Corsica, where its presence completely disrupts the ecosystems but also the work of fishermen.
“We don’t know if we’re going to win our day”
The teams of “1:15 p.m. Saturday” (X, #1:15 p.m.) followed Michel and Pierre, who have been fishing on the Biguglia pond for six years. “When I arrived, it was nice to come fishing, now we leave in the morning we don’t know if we’re going to win our day, it’s complicated“, confides one of them.
Taking out the fish trap, unsurprisingly, there are practically only crabs, and in very large quantities. One of the few fish there, a wolffish, was completely torn to pieces by its roommates.
Six years ago in this lagoon, the two fishermen saw a few in the nets, but nothing to worry them. Today it is a real scourge. “I think that before we didn’t have such long periods of extreme heat. With these temperatures, this heat, the population of blue crabs is exploding. I saw the difference, I think global warming has something to do with it“, supposes the fisherman.
“It was paradise but here we are rather in hell”
By revealing the images of a 2019 take, the difference is obvious. Enough to discourage the two fishermen. “We’re waiting for a miracle, overfishing them, trying to remove them…“, one of them hopes without really believing it.
“I hardly see any other solution than to stop“, he reveals, completely disillusioned by this invasion of blue crabs. “With that you have zero income. What do we do in the meantime? How are we doing financially?“, he continues, before concluding. “It was paradise to fish on the pond but here we are more in hell“.
Excerpt from “The mystery of the crab with blue claws”, a report broadcast in “1:15 p.m. on Saturday” on November 25, 2023.
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