A first experimental outplanting intervention of πππππ πππππππ was successfully conducted at the Marine Oasis and Natura 2000 site of the tegnΓΉe of the Caorle Municipality as part of the Interreg Italy Slovenia TRECap project!
The action represents the key moment of a long journey: the specimens were collected from larval collectors installed along the Veneto coast in 2023. The juveniles were kept for about a year in enclosures at the CNRsocialFB's Acqua Alta oceanographic platform off Venice, until they reached a suitable size.
Tests conducted by the University of Trieste - Department of Life Sciences have verified the negativity of juvenile πππππ πππππππ to the pathogen π»πππππ πππππππ’π ππππππ, the main suspect in the severe die-offs affecting the species.
Following the authorisation of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MISE) and the positive opinion of the Veneto Region, in February 2025 the underwater team of the CNR-ISMAR of Venice conducted the outplanting of the three surviving specimens at the biogenic reefs of Caorle, locally known as tegnΓΉe, and included in the Natura 2000 network under the Habitats Directive. The activities were carried out in collaboration with the CNR-IGG of Padua, the Municipality of Caorle and the Gruppo Sommozzatori Caorle.
A couple of months later, the three small outplanted πππππ πππππππ are doing well and already showing signs of growth. In the coming months, this first small cluster will be closely monitored, also through innovative photogrammetric approaches.
