Genoa – An artificial pond, fed by a very pure source, to reproduce in captivity the crayfish that will repopulate the waterways of Liguria. The Life Claw project dedicated to the conservation of the Italian crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) in the north-western Apennine area of Emilia-Romagna and Liguria, has started the breeding activity that will lead to the reintroduction of crayfish in the areas where the species is disappearing.
The reproduction centers activated are located in the municipalities of Fontanigorda in Liguria, in the province of Genoa, and in Monchio delle Corti and Corniglio in Emilia, in the province of Parma.
The center of Fontanigorda uses the tanks created after the war for the reproduction and repopulation of trout and subsequently discarded, which, thanks to the Life CLAW project, were put back into operation: of the eight tanks present, two are intended for breeding crayfish and the others will be used for breeding brown trout.
The ponds are also equipped with protections both to shade and to prevent the oviposition of the dragonflies, whose larvae are predators of the young shrimps.
The start of the activity of the centers was preceded by the identification of sufficiently abundant donor populations, genetically suitable and free of pathologies, thanks respectively to the bio-ecological, genetic and veterinary investigations conducted by the University of Pavia, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and the Zooprophylactic Institute of the Venezie. Following this phase, thanks to the work carried out by the partners who provided for the construction of the breeding centers, about 400 breeding shrimps (males and females) in total were introduced into the tanks of the three centers.. Mating took place in late October and the females should already have spawned.
At the beginning of summer, the hatching will take place, following which only the young shrimps will remain in the tanks of the centers.
In fact, males and females will be brought back to their original courses. Unlike most crustaceans, and their sea “cousins”, freshwater shrimps do not have a larval phase, but when they hatch the chicks already appear with the same appearance as adults. In September, the newborns will be introduced in nature, in the streams found to be suitable, following the first design phase.
The Italian crayfish (A. pallipes) is an autochthonous (native) species, whose survival is severely compromised due to various threats mainly related to the increasing anthropization of aquatic ecosystems and the introduction of invasive alien (non-native) species. In particular, invasive allochthonous shrimps pose a major threat as they are asymptomatic carriers of the shrimp plague, a disease responsible for the rapid extinction of native populations.
Due to these factors, over the past 50 years, populations of native crayfish have experienced a strong and widespread decline across Europe and currently, in Italy, their presence is mainly limited to small streams in which the invasive allochthonous shrimps have not yet expanded and the anthropization of the habitat is limited or absent.
The LIFE CLAW project, supported by the European Union through the LIFE financial instrument and coordinated by the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park, aims to improve the conservation status of the Italian crayfish populations in the north-western Apennine area of Emilia-Romagna and Liguria, through a long-term program involving several partners in both regions.
The partners of the LIFE CLAW project that work alongside the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park are: the Management Body for Western Emilia Parks and Biodiversity, the Antola Regional Natural Park, the Piacenza Reclamation Consortium, the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of the Venezie, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the University of Pavia, the Genoa-Costa Edutainment Aquarium, the Municipality of Ottone and the Municipality of Fontanigorda.
Over the past months, despite the health emergency, the project had carried out an action to contain allochthonous shrimps, through the involvement of volunteers. More than 200 people, including voluntary ecological guards, fishermen, environmental excursion guides, university students and nature lovers, from the provinces of Parma, Piacenza and Genoa, have joined this important phase of the project
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