Greek mussel industry in danger - High sea temperatures have destroyed production
Greece's mussel farming industry is under serious threat, after record-high sea temperatures last summer wiped out nearly 90 percent of production in the Thermaic Gulf.
The warm, shallow waters of the Gulf hide a growing disaster for local farmers. Last July, sea temperatures soared above 30 degrees Celsius, turning the once-productive area for mussels into a lifeless environment.
The entire crop was lost, along with the small mussels that were supposed to pave the way for next year. In villages like Chalastra and Kymina, hundreds of farmers now face an uncertain future.
"Last year's heat killed everything, the seeds and the crops. In this area alone, we lost 100 percent of the production. There are no profits and no future," said a fourth-generation mussel farmer.
While scientists have warned for years that climate change would warm the waters of the Mediterranean, few expected the impact to be so rapid.
"Especially over the last four years, mussels have had difficulty growing with the methods we have always used. The future of mussel farming has become extremely uncertain," said Vasilis Anastasiou, a mussel farmer and ichthyologist.
The Thermaic Gulf once supplied one of Europe’s leading mussel industries. However, last summer’s heatwaves raised sea temperatures so high that the mussels had no chance of survival. With no seed left, the mussel crisis is going beyond a local scale. Greece exports nearly 20,000 tonnes of mussels each year, and the crisis is threatening the entire supply chain.
The Greek government has confirmed the high level of damage and said it is working with European institutions for possible support. But so far, farmers say little help has come to them.
With no relief and the seas only getting warmer, many mussel farmers fear their livelihoods have now been completely destroyed.
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