"Molechicoltura" - Crab farming: a local industry

 

 

 

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Index "Crab farming"

The farming of moulting crabs is a local industry peculiar to the Venice lagoon.

 "Moeche" or "moleche" refers, in Venetian dialect, to the soft shell moulting stage of green crabs (Carcinus aestuarii).

As a matter of fact, crabs are encased in a hard, rigid shell of fixed shape which must be cast off at intervals and replaced by a larger one so that the animal may have room to grow; this process is known as moulting.

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Molechicoltura” (i.e. moleche-culture), also known as “carcinicoltura”, is an activity in between fishing (sea-resourses exploitation) and aquaculture (sea-farming), which makes it difficult to classify.

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Throughout the Venetian and Veneto territory "moeche" have always been esteemed as an expensive delicacy. It is a local product with a long and still flourishing tradition which has developed in three areas: Burano island, Chioggia  and Giudecca island in Venice.