War of Molluscs: Bulgarian White Mussel Harvest Dwindles by Over Half Due to Rapana and Mass Catch

Bulgaria will introduce a seasonal ban on white mussel fishing in the Black Sea due to a sharp decline in the population of the mussels. Bulgaria's white mussel harvest is down by almost 60% in 2023 compared to 2022, Nikolay Georgiev, executive director of the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EAFA), said on Tuesday. 

Georgiev added that the drop is 70% compared to 2019-2020. In 2018, the production was 818 tonnes, after which the amount began to gradually decrease, reaching 450 tonnes in 2022 and 150 tonnes in 2023. 

"This data is a warning that something is happening in the sea," Georgiev said. 

White mussel fishing was allowed in Bulgaria in 2013. According to experts, one of the reasons for the decline in white mussel catches is its intensive fishing, and another is the increase in the population of rapana, which eat mussels. 

It was on the basis of EAFA statistics that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food issued an order for a three-month ban on white mussel fishing, Georgiev said. 

"Last week, there was a protest by shellfishermen against this ban, which limits their ability to work, and there was some tension. I had talks with the ministry, and we decided to meet again and review the decision once again to defuse the tension," Georgiev said. 

Today, on 30 April, EAFA organised a meeting with all stakeholders, and Georgiev expressed hope that a compromise solution would be reached. 

"One of the options that we will discuss at the meeting is to shorten the ban a little bit or to divide the ban period into two, so that there is a spring-summer ban on white mussel fishing and an autumn-winter ban," Georgiev said. 

According to him, scientific reports show that the mussel reproduces at a seawater temperature of 12–17 degrees. This temperature is reached between April and June, as well as between October and November.

Photo: War of Molluscs: Bulgarian White Mussel Harvest Dwindles by Over Half Due to Rapana and Mass Catch. Source:  fb-chornomorka2013