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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Kim Willsher

Voracious spider crabs threaten French mussel farms

Farmers working on  mussel and oyster beds  in Normandy
Farmers working on mussel and oyster beds in Normandy. Warming seas allow the migratory spider crabs to spend more of the year offshore. Photograph: Mike Forster/Alamy

French mussel farmers have said voracious spider crabs that have infested the country’s western coast are destroying their shellfish and livelihoods as warming seas allow the migratory animals to spend more of the year offshore.

Angry producers in Normandy and Brittany are demanding to be allowed to control crab numbers by killing them or using dredging nets to drag those ravaging their mussel “parks” further out to sea.

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