Seasonal averages out of the norm
With temperatures above the seasonal average in a November of 18 degrees, there is the invasion of cormorants in Puglia, birds that feed on fish, more than tripled due to the tropicalization of the climate, with serious economic repercussions for fishermen and for fish farms in the open sea. This is what Coldiretti Puglia states, with the tropicalization of the climate that sends nature haywire and causes wildlife to proliferate, such as cormorants that from migratory have become sedentary in Puglia with damage to fishing in farms, at sea and in the lagoon, but the effect of climate change is also felt at a structural level, with the overheating of the sea and changes in currents. Each cormorant eats up to 10 kilograms of fish per month, over 300 grams per day, leaving among other things - Coldiretti Puglia reports - fish injured in their predatory activity and with the risk of spreading diseases and parasites. The number of wintering cormorants has increased approximately twentyfold in the last 25 years – adds Coldiretti Puglia – according to a trend parallel and strictly correlated to the exponential growth of nesting populations in the countries of central and northern Europe.
The most affected areas
The increasingly invasive presence of cormorants – adds Coldiretti Puglia – is reported by fishermen in the province of Bari both in the south, between Mola di Bari and Torre a Mare and in the north between Giovinazzo and Bisceglie, on the coast of Taranto, in the lagoon of Varano, on the Capaccio del Celone Dam in Lucera and near the Lago Salso marsh in Manfredonia, in Gallipoli and on over 400 kilometers of coastline in the region. It is now a real emergency in light of the damage caused to the activity of fish farming in the open sea in Puglia and to the life of fish in the seas. The predatory activity of cormorants – explains Coldiretti Puglia – subjects marine life to strong stress because it is so intense that it does not allow the growth, development and reproduction of the species they feed on. They are not limited to valuable fish species – adds Coldiretti Puglia – because they also eat those forage species that should serve as food for the former, making their impact on the fishing sector even more negative. For fish farmers and professional fishermen, the reduction in catches is the factor with the greatest impact – reports Coldiretti Puglia – while for sport fishermen, the risk is the reduction in fish stocks due to reduced natural production.
Decline in consumption
The damage caused by cormorants is added to the effects of the conflict in Ukraine, with a very serious scenario in the maritime areas due to the high cost of fuel that is stopping fishing boats and boats in the docks and the drop in consumption due to inflation that has made families lose purchasing power. In Puglia the damage caused by wild fauna is enormous, with wild boars destroying crops and attacking humans and farm animals - reports Coldiretti Puglia - as well as wolves and feral dogs, starlings wiping out olive production and destroying pitches, hares literally devouring entire vegetable fields, cormorants eating fish in aquaculture plants, with damage amounting to over 16 million euros. Farmers are taking steps to fence off farms at their own expense with considerable costs to defend themselves from wild boars that destroy structures and production. This is an unsustainable situation – concludes the regional Coldiretti – which is causing the abandonment of internal areas, with social, economic and environmental problems (source: Coldiretti).
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