Adriatic Sea, Italian clams dying. EU points fingers at climate

Brussels – Italy and clams, the saga goes on. The relationship between the country and the delicious seafood is not the most idyllic. First, the brawl at the EU level over size rules and bans on bivalves smaller than 25 millimeters, a clash that lasted almost ten years; now the mysterious death that no one, at the moment, can explain. All that is known is that in the Adriatic Sea “since the end of last July, there has been an extensive phenomenon of clam mortality, which began already in the spring.” At least so reports Massimo Casanova (Lega/Id), a member of the Committee on Fisheries of the European Parliament. “The latest report comes from the Molise region, where the sector quantifies the extent of this phenomenon at about 80 percent.”

Thus, there is a “widespread and abnormal die-off,” denounces the MEP. The question is, what is happening to the clams of the Adriatic and “made in Italy”? The number one suspect seems to be the climate. Extreme weather situations are the most plausible answer for Brussels, where the European Commission has no further information. Information that Italy will still have to provide by autumn of this year.

The Commissioner for the Environment and the Sea, Virginius Sinkevicius, first notes that “exceptional levels of clam mortality have not been reported to the Commission in recent months,” as he explains in the response provided. He acknowledges that he does not know much about it even though he, Sinkevicius, has an idea: a “crazy” climate. “In 2023 the surface temperature of the Adriatic Sea was higher than the long-term average, and high river discharges, due to heavy rainfall, reduced coastal salinity in early summer.” Too much fresh water and too warm sea, not the best combination. “Such changes in oceanographic parameters could be additional environmental stressors for clams.”

Sinkevicius has another possible answer. And a doubt. Is Italy working toward a good conservation of its marine environment? Because “Member states are required to implement strategies to achieve good environmental status” of blue habitats, “thereby ensuring that EU waters and the species they host are in good health.”

Now, the point is that the data held by the EU executive, Sinkevicius points out, are not up-to-date. The latest available report on Italian waters of the Adriatic Sea “is based on information collected before 2023.” It also “does not address the issue of the recent clam die-off,” which makes it more complicated to address the issue and understand its causes. But, Sinkevicius implicitly criticizes, “the previous report indicates that good ecological status has not been achieved in the Italian waters of the Adriatic Sea.”

in short, the clams are also likely to be encumbered by Italianity. More will be known in the coming months. “The next report on the state of the marine environment should be submitted to the commission by October 15, 2024,” Sinkevicius reminds.