"Clams are dying from the heat, there is no consistent water recirculation. It is a consequence of climate change. The serious mortality of clams and molluscs is taking place, in this period, because of the high sea temperatures. It is the fault of climate change that has also reduced the episodes of cold mistral winds on our coast over time", reports Antonio Loi, president of the Consorzio Pesca di Marceddì.
The representative of the Loi fishermen's cooperative claims that " the lack of production is caused by the waters being too hot, there is no recycling, which is essential for the growth of molluscs. With fresh water they would suffer less and the fish repopulation would be much more consistent. With temperatures too high, clams do not lay eggs. And each clam lays 100 thousand eggs. The fishermen are small business owners who risk being crushed by the climate crisis, they are looking for remedies, but it is not easy. There is also the risk of significant price increases ".
The phenomenon of sea tropicalization could be limited by draining the canals, eliminating the sand and increasing the amount of water the molluscs could lay their eggs and have a normal life cycle. The alterations in biodiversity in the fishpond waters are creating a new balance between the species present in the water, but they are not economically advantageous for the fishermen. In road 10 of the compendium of the Sardinian reclamation, the fishermen transport their catch for retail sale, but often they do not have the most requested commodity: clams.
"Channel 17 has never been drained and cleaned, there is no oxygen. The ponds are a heritage of the Region, if they are not protected sooner or later we will not be able to fish anything. Once upon a time, just from the sale of clams we managed to earn up to 400 thousand euros a year, today it is just a dream", concludes Loi hoping for a large participation on December 19 in Cagliari to report the problem of the fishermen to the Sardinian politicians. Among the requests made there is also the immediate start of extraordinary maintenance work on the ponds, which were planned over three years ago with a total allocation of 6 million euros.