Fishing, tug-of-war between Spain and Italy over clams. Bel Paese’s supply chain at risk

Brussels – The tug-of-war between Madrid and Rome over the skin, or rather the shells, of carpet-shell clams continues. As has been the case in previous years, the main point of contention this time around is the size of the molluscs in question. The delegation of the Spanish Partido Popular, the second-largest within the European People’s Party (EPP) after Germany, has taken a firm stance to prevent unfair competition from Italian clam farmers, and it is trying to block the adoption of the derogation granted by the EU Commission in the Fisheries (PECH) committee of the EU Parliament. 

In the commitee, on 25 September, three Spanish Christian Democrat MEPs—the chairwoman of PECH, Carmen Crespo Díaz, together with Gabriel Mato and Francisco José Millán Mon—tabled a motion to cancel the extension of the derogation on minimum sizes already in force for Italy since back in 2016, extending it from the current deadline (at the end of 2025) until 31 December 2030. 

Last July, Brussels had produced a delegated act to renew the exemption, continuing to allow Italian clam farmers to market as carpet-shell clams the smaller specimens reared in the Adriatic Sea basin (especially off the Veneto coast, for example, in the Po Delta area). The point on which the controversy hinges is that the diameter of the latter measures at most 22 millimetres, whereas the reference value established by EU regulations is 25 millimetres. 

Italian delegations, from the right to the centre-left, have announced that they will stand up for the national sector. “We will support the extension of clam fishing in the Italian seas as proposed by the European Commission,” said the Democratic Party’s Giuseppe Lupo (member of PECH) and Camilla Laureti (PD national responsible for fishing and agriculture). This choice, they point out, “also stems from the consideration of the impact of climate change affecting our seas and the presence of blue crabs, which put a strain on the sector.”

The motion presented by the Populars, explains to Eunews the president of the General Association of Italian Cooperatives (Agro-food sector) Giampaolo Buonfiglio, “is motivated exclusively by commercial competition reasons, and not by aspects related to the preservation of the stock and fisheries management.” The petitioners themselves make no secret of this, complaining that the measure in question represents “a significant comparative disadvantage for fishermen from different regions of the EU.” 

As noted by Buonfiglio, the Scientific Technical Committee of the Twelve Star Executive (STECF) has confirmed that the fishing of “mini-clams” made in Italy does not compromise the sustainability of the stock. And he emphasises how “the difference in the minimum size of the clam” between the northern Adriatic and the Andalusian seas is “justified by solid scientific foundations,” being due to “incomparable environmental and biological conditions” such as the peculiar configuration of the Italian seabed and the lower salinity of the water. According to the Italian consortia, moreover, a smaller minimum size increases, rather than decreases, the sustainability of production. 

The redde rationem is now set for 16 October, when the PECH commission will have to vote on the Populars’ objection and decide, in effect, on the future of a crucial sector in the Italian economy. According to estimates by Legacoop Veneto, raising the minimum size to 25 millimetres could lead to a drop in productivity of around 35 per cent for breeders, worsening the crisis of a sector that has already been in difficulty in recent years.