Warmer seas hit Greece’s mussel harvest

Sea warming is not only affecting salmon farms – it has all but wiped out mussel aquaculture in Greece this year, according to reports.

The Mediterranean has seen a steady rise in sea temperatures which reached a record this summer and has now led to a 90% drop in the mussel harvest.

Scientists are warning that if the situation continues to get worse the future for aquaculture in some parts of the world could be threatened.

According to Reuters this is the second time in three years that record sea temperatures have hit the mussel harvest in northern Greece, where farmers.

The situation next year looks to be no better because all the seed for the new season has also been wiped out.

Many scientists are now warning that rising sea temperatures pose arguably the most serious threat to aquaculture and to certain types of fish. The Norwegian water temperatures this summer have been among the highest on record.

The situation in the rest of the Mediterranean, poses a similar but more serious threat with Spanish aquaculture facing similar issues.

One Greek mussel farmer told Reuters that the mussel sector was very close to collapse and is demanding that the government needed to support the sector.

Greece’s aquaculture production is currently worth more than £500m and is the third largest in Europe after France and Spain, according to the Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Organization (HAPO).

It is one of Europe’s main producers of the Mediterranean mussel and exports nearly all of the 20,000 tonnes that it farms.