French mussel farmers are demanding action on spider crabs that have invaded their waters due to rising sea temperatures.

Producers in Normandy and Brittany claim the crabs are spending more of the year offshore due to climate change – instead of just one or two months – ravaging mussel beds in the process.

They say they face ruin and are demanding to be allowed to control spider crab numbers by killing them, or using nets to move them further out to sea.

Bouchot mussels are a protected regional speciality and are vital to the local economy.

Last week, 70 mussel producers staged a protest outside the city hall in Saint Lo demanding officials take action.

They carried a coffin with the words “in memory of Norman mussel production 1963-2023” – suggesting the industry could die out next year.

“For five years we have been alerting the public authorities to the predation of our crops by crabs,” one protester told French newspaper Ouest-France.

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Local officials agreed “new measures could be tried out”.

“These emergency measures will be assessed in November at a forthcoming meeting between mussel farmers’ representatives and the prefecture,” a spokesperson said.

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It comes after spider crabs gathered in huge numbers off the coast of St Ives in Cornwall this summer.

The large crustaceans are easily recognisable with their long legs and pincer claws.

They usually appear in large numbers in shallow waters to protect themselves from predators but are now spending longer than usual there due to the warming climate.

Once they have shed their shells and scavenged plants and shellfish, they return to depths of 300ft.

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