Italy's "Chinatown" news: Italy's high-quality seawater and ocean currents contain a lot of delicious seafood, and the reputation of the Italian food kingdom is coming from this. However, nature is not an inexhaustible production machine, and even the most favorable natural environment needs to be taken care of. In fact, Italian waters are already showing signs of reduced production, which is the result of overfishing of seafood. In order to ensure the balance of marine ecology, Apulia, Italy, today entered into force a decree banning the fishing of sea urchins for three years from today, in order to prevent the seabed from continuing desertification and requiring regular recharging.
But streetmen who love to eat sea urchins do not have to worry about not being able to eat sea urchins, although fishing is prohibited in the Apulian Sea, but cross-regional trade is not prohibited, sea urchins are still allowed to be imported, all from Spain, Greece, Portugal, Croatia and Albania. So we can still eat sea urchins, but they are not produced locally.
The decree was immediately embraced by local fishermen, environmentalists and marine enthusiasts, and was voted by a landslide vote of 41 in favor and 1 against. Overfishing of sea urchins affects not just sea urchins as a marine organism, but also the entire marine food chain, and many fish that feed on sea urchins never visit the area again.
In fact, as early as the 90s, the Apulian Environmental Association demanded restrictions on fishing in the area, and in 1995 approved a law banning fishing in May and June, and allowing fish farmers to be given a fishing limit of 50 in July. But despite these measures, the number of sea urchins is still falling dramatically, from 10 sea urchins per square meter of sea area fifty years ago to 1-2 or even zero sea urchins today, and the size of sea urchins is slowly getting smaller.
So in the early days, while laws to prevent overfishing were far from stopping ecological damage, now banning fishing is not enough, and during the three years since fishing was stopped, Apulian law also required fishermen to provide regular nutrition and care for the seabed.