The blue crab business is expanding. After the Tunisia affaire (and the Greece affaire), countries that are said to be importing the crustacean into Italy creating no small amount of unease and concern now it is the turn of South Korea, which, instead, would like to import our blue crab into the country. This was made clear by the Consul General of the Republic of Korea, Kang Hyung Shik, at a meeting in Cà Farsetti, headquarters of the Venice City Council. The meeting between the Korean diplomat and the Venetian city administration was also attended by the city's councillor for trade, Sebastiano Costalonga, the director of the Fish Market, Michele Chieregato, and local businesses involved in exporting the catch. 

"If we could import more blue crabs from Venice and the lagoon areas, I think it would be mutually beneficial for both" the consul stressed. The project is already there, according to what Il Gazzettino hints at: on the one hand, it would make it possible to meet the demand for the product expressed by Korean consumers and, on the other hand, to limit the spread of the crustacean in lagoon waters, lowering the levels of danger to the biodiversity of the fish fauna and the seafood food supply chain by a bit.

"The feasibility of the project -explains Costalonga- is only possible thanks to the indispensable support of experienced operators in the sector, which will ensure that Korean consumers will have a product processed to the highest quality standards". A possible intervention by the region, it seems, to support companies in maintaining a low cost for trade with South Korea cannot be ruled out. Even, according to what Costalonga reveals since this is an important quantitative demand for the crustacean from the Asian country, the interest could be national. "Also because in the coming years -the councilor adds- the presence of the crustacean in the Adriatic is expected to increase, this could be a solution".

That of blue crab, we said, is becoming a business. According to a Wwf report in Tunisia, one of the countries risen in recent days to the headlines in Italy for an import judged inappropriate, blue crab accounts for 25% of fish exports: in 2021 exports reached 7,600 tons worth $ 24 million, a figure doubled from 2020. The main destinations are the Asian market joined by Italy, Spain, the United States and the Persian Gulf countries.