It’s time for an integrated coastal management that brings farmers back to the top of the list9/25/2021 As i am writing this post, I just finished the first transplantation of 2000 European Oysters in the Venice lagoon, where were once highly abundant and were then depleted to the point of a complete stock collapse. Now, if you have been to Venice, you have probably seen oysters attached to the seawalls, but they are Crassostrea spp. (Japanese and Portuguese oysters imported to Europe by accident and now commonly farmed) , but bringing back Ostrea edulis, is not only important for biodiversity and to ameliorate some areas of the seabed, but can potentially bring higher revenues. As a matter of fact, the farmers i collaborate with are very interested in helping me out, a little bit out of interest and kindness towards the young girl scientist (aka the UFO) but also out of potentially being able to start up a new culture which can mean bringing more food on the family’s table....
I was lucky to spend some time talking with them about some of the issues: the number one being that nobody really ever listens to them. None of the agricultural politics are made with farmers and fishermen in mind, and then one is left to wonder why they are often portrayed as the ‘mischiefing’ part, cheating and poaching… But since farming, in particular mollusks, may even bring some benefits for the environment (if done well) and help us combat climate change (again, if done within certain parameters) , then why don’t politics help with it? Surely, it will be better for the environment compared to, I don’t know, opening yet another tourist resort? (yes, they are considering this, and thankfully they are still far from it, but it is a possibility). If fishermen don’t make enough and are considering having to do ‘farmhouse’ tourism (which will likely lead to a degradation of the seawater so that definitely they wouldn’t be able to farm it properly, then they would have to cheat and import the seafood for the tourists and enter the downward spiral that these kind of activities are destined for), then whose fault it is ? Just theirs? Or also higher up in the 'managerial' chain for not having it foreseen? Some issues are deep routed in a system of ‘dis’integrated costal management, where managers don’t realise that an activity in our area (let’s say for example a concrete structure) could leach chemicals or create a disturbance that may kill or disturb the farming activity happening close by. Others are issues that may need to involve various industries, for example: can something be done with snail predators (Hexaplex trunculus) that are decimating the clams? If their consumption cannot be increased (they are edible, but may need some pre processing to remove a part which has too much Cadmium to be safely eaten in large quantities) , can something else be done with them? Back in the day they extracted pigments from this species: could it be a good idea killing two birds with one stone (or if someone has a better say that doesn’t involve killing birds…) and using it instead of chemical dyes? And what about shells? Those acclaimed ‘carbon stores’ ? Which may or may not be it depending on the area in which the mollusks grow. But then, ultimately, it depends on what you do with it. But it’s not the farmer choice if they are classified as ‘biohazard’ because they may or may not have some meat attached and so it has to be disposed of it in particular ways which means, most likely, the carbon will not be buried away… It’s time for integrated management, which will consider sea economy in a much more integrated way and not ‘dismiss’ some activity. They could bring money, and they could bring a positive change for the future. If only they would not placed at the bottom of the list...
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