Add crab traps, keep the spiffy uniforms
They pulled George Washington's bacon from the fire at the Battle of Brooklyn, and served with distinction from 1776 until they disbanded in 1783.
They are needed again, this time overseas, to help with a plague of invasive blue crabs in Italy, which are threatening the native fisheries.
We need the uniforms, plus crab traps, drawn butter, bread crumbs, and Old Bay seasoning.
Lots, and LOTS of old bay seasoning:
Italian fishing communities in the north of the country are fighting an invasion of predatory blue crabs which risks jeopardising the economy of whole regions, authorities have said.
The crab, originally from the coast of north and south America, has spread across several lagoon-like locations in Italy over the past year, preying on local shellfish and posing a threat to the country’s role as one of the world’s leading clam producers.
“We need people in Rome to understand that this disaster is putting at risk the lives of thousands of families and businesses,” said the governor of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, after a summit on Monday.
“This invasion risks destroying an economy which not only provides a livelihood for a community, but which is an Italian and European excellence, together with other identity products of this region like Parma ham or Parmigiano.”
Fishing communities in the affected regions have been advised to capture as many blue crabs as they can in at attempt to control their population. In the Po River delta, however, such efforts have proven largely ineffective.
The crabs made their way to Italy in bilge water, and having no natural predators in the region, their population has exploded.
One of the natural predators of blue crabs is, of course, Marylanders.
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