Rome – The residents of the Enclave of the Playa de Toscana de Orbetello seek an emergency statement to help fight an invasion of mosquitoes that keep people indoors and threatening the companies that serve tourists.
Millions of the small insects have invaded Orbetello, a land speck that goes to the Orbetello lagoon, a nature reserve off the coast of La Tuscany between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Mount Argentar.
Fishermen say that swarms began about three weeks ago and blame for a massive death of 2024 youthful fish, known as Fry, which are the main predators of Midge’s larvae. Similar invasions have occurred in the past, and fishermen say that deaths are the result of the general exhaustion of oxygen in the lagoon ecosystem.
On Thursday, the City Council of Orbetello allocated 300,000 euros ($ 327,000) and promised a series of specific emergency interventions to combat the invasion, after a meeting with key commercial associations.
A permanent commission was created and emergency measures would aim to “protect citizens and economic activities in the area,” said Mayor Andrea Casamenti in a statement. But no details were published immediately.
Local residents want more, demanding that the Tuscan region declare an emergency state to release even more funds. A petition Change.org “Save the Orbetello Lagoon” had registered more than 19,000 signatures for Thursday night.
“We cannot walk outdoors. We cannot open the windows. We are segregated in the house” as during the first days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the petition said. He blamed the ineffective management of the lagoon for calamity.
Pier Luigi Piro, president of the Pescadores de Orbetello cooperative, said the lagoon ecosystem needs serious infrastructure investments to clean channels and favor the exchange of water between the lagoon and the Tirrenian. He said he hoped that the mayor’s office consortium and the commercial groups that have joined to deal with the crisis work as soon as possible.
“Everything we are doing, we hope to have a serene tourist season, otherwise, beyond the damage, many activities will risk the closure,” he warned.
