Marine dates, because it is forbidden to hunt them

Summer has arrived, and with it have arrived at the beach. There are some animals that we need to know, when we spend a lot of time at sea, to respect them and not put ourselves at risk. One of the most common mistakes is to confuse mussels with sea ​​dates.

What are sea dates?

Like mussels, sea dates too slugs: It has a longer shell than mussels, and it is not black but brown. Their scientific name is Lithuphaja Lithuphaja, literally stone eaters: in fact, they live clinging to rocks or rocks in the water, but they obviously don’t feed on stones. Their diet consists of plankton, algae and biological debris. They have long tongues, a type of tongue that they produce themselves and use to attach themselves to rocks.

They live as one Long lifeCompared to other animals of this size and type: up to 35 years. But they remain very busy, because they continue to grow throughout their lives. In fact, it takes 15 to 35 years to reach five centimeters in length – compared to a maximum length of more than or less than double.

Because we can’t catch them

Sea dates are strictly collected and harvested forbidden By law: Recently a man was denounced for serious damage and illegal fishing, because he was photographed hammering a piece of rock just to extract sea dates, in Castellammare di Stabia. This behavior is punished not only by Italian law, but also by international law with the Berne and Barcelona Conventions of 1982.

But where does this ban come from? The reason lies in environmental damage Caused in the marine ecosystem by sea date fisheries. To take it, in fact, the piece of rock must be separated, which is then hammered or destroyed with saws and augers, thus losing a piece of habitat and causing ecological damage and a really important biodiversity. In fact, sea history when sticking to the rock secretes an acidic substance that tunnels into the stone. So it’s not just attached to the rock, but deeply embedded within. Capturing them would be just another blow to our marine ecosystems, which have already been abused by massive fishing and pollution – by the way, we have just discovered a new and very dangerous danger, polluting our oceans.

To understand what the potential harm could be, you need to think about the analogy: if the behavior of a man on the beach of Castellammare caused minimal harm (even if it is right and right to punish him by law), then the intensive fishing would be incredibly dangerous and industrial, made of Explosives. Kilometers and kilometres, quintals and quintals of boulders and boulders will be destroyed, resulting in the loss of an ecosystem and habitat that is not only the habitat of sea dates, but part of the marine ecosystem – already threatened by many human behaviors. Including light pollutionWhich we never thought of.