A sound to save the sea. Indeed, three. There are many frequencies used by an innovative Italian system that promises to respond to one of the most felt problems of recent times: the invasion of the blue crab, especially alien for the Mediterranean Sea and originally from the Atlantic coasts of America.
No traps, no chemical substance, but only sound waves to keep the “killer of our seas” at bay, a threat that is bringing the economy of entire territories to their knees, starting with the clams.
The idea, as often happens for the most effective intuitions, was born almost by chance. “The idea was born some time ago when, beating on a tube, I noticed the reaction of the crab,” Roberto Passarella explained to La Voce Nuova, one of the two Polesani inventors. From that simple observation, together with the friend and electronic technician Giacomo Perazzolo, a dissuasor took shape. It is a steel device, completely autonomous because it is powered by floating photovoltaic panels, capable of functioning in a continuous cycle by emitting sounds at different frequencies to prevent the crabs from getting used to them and that the effectiveness decreases over time.
The field experimentation, conducted for over six months in a nursery in Porto Levante thanks to the availability of the Virginio Mantovan clam breeder, has given results that defining encouraging is little. According to the first tests, the system is able to reduce the presence of the voracious crustacean up to 90%, actually preventing them from approaching and devastating the areas dedicated to molluschiculture. A surprising effectiveness that prompted the two inventors to patent their creation immediately. “We tested him for more than six months and we immediately realized that the results were very good – stressed Roberto – at that point we decided to patent it”.
Innovation has understandably attracted the attention of the institutions. The project was officially presented in Ferrara, in the presence of the extraordinary commissioner for the emergency, Enrico Caterino, and the prefect Massimo Marchesiello. The importance of the question is such that to validate the scientific results, top -level entities such as ISPRA (Higher Institute for Protection and Environmental Research) and the University of Padua were called. In fact, they will have to give the definitive go -ahead to the distribution of bollards to the fishermen at the end of the checks.
For the moment, in fact, none of the devices have still been distributed. The authorities and trade associations invite caution. Vadis Bygating, vice president of Confcooperative Fedagripesca Emilia Romagna, has in fact urged the fishermen to “wait for the results of the official experimentation”. Only with the green disc of science can we proceed to the large -scale adoption of a tool that, however promising, represents a not indifferent investment for companies. Market costs for similar devices, in fact, range between 2 thousand and 7 thousand euros.
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