‘If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em’: Italy is turning its hated invasive crab into a multimillion-dollar business

Italian fishermen for two years incinerated most of the invasive Atlantic blue crabs caught in the Po River Delta south of Venice.

Few Italians had an appetite for the alien predator blamed for decimating their prized Manila clams.

While experiments in containment continue, including the release of tens of thousands of octopus predators, the industry’s response has been shifting to find new markets for the crustaceans.

The strategy is already salvaging the livelihood of some fishermen and, some hope, may even rehabilitate the much-maligned crab’s image in Italy.

Fishermen pivot to salvage livelihoods Like other members of his local cooperative, second-generation fisherman Federico Zago saw his income crash after the crab invasion.

The Polesine Fishermen’s Cooperative Consortium’s revenues fell 75% to 15 million euros ($17 million) in 2024 and 2025; the cooperative’s active members also shrank from 1,500 to 850.

“We needed to change strategy, and create an opportunity from this disaster,” said Paolo Mancin, the cooperative’s president.

Desperate, they pivoted to exporting the unwanted crabs, with the aim of preserving the Manila clams — invasive themselves — and mussels that created decades of prosperity in the shallow lagoons of Veneto and Emilia Romagna.

Zago now pulls up cages full of crabs from his traditional fishing cabin built on stilts over the Scardovari lagoon in the Veneto region.

And the consortium’s strategy is working; so far this year it has sold every crab it has caught, eliminating the need for incineration.

It forecasts 20 million euros ($23 million) in revenue this year, most from sales of crab.

“Since we’re going to have to live with these crabs, I hope they become an opportunity,” said Zago.

“I hope the market continues to grow.” Climate change creates perfect conditions for invasive crab The Atlantic blue crab has been present in the Adriatic Sea since at least the 1940s, arriving in ballast water from commercial vessels, according to Piero Genovesi, an invasive species expert at Italy’s environmental protection institute.

Their numbers remained contained until 2023, and local fishermen reported catching them only sporadically.