Swarms of midges are bugging a Tuscan beach town, which wants an emergency declared to help

This frame grab taken from an undated video released by the Orbetello Fishermen's Cooperative on Thursday, March 20, 2025, shows a swarm of midges in the lagoon area near Orbetello, central Italy. (Orbetello Fishermen 's Cooperative via AP, HO)

ROME — Residents of the Tuscany beach enclave of Orbetello are seeking a state of emergency declaration to help combat an invasion of midges that are keeping people indoors and threatening businesses catering to tourists.

Millions of the tiny bugs have invaded Orbetello, a speck of land that juts out into the Orbetello lagoon, a natural reserve off Tuscany’s coast between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Monte Argentario.

Fishermen say the swarms began about three weeks ago and blame a 2024 mass die-off of juvenile fish, known as fry, that are the main predators of midge larvae. Similar invasions have occurred in the past, and fishermen say the die-offs are the result of overall oxygen depletion in the lagoon ecosystem.

On Thursday, Orbetello city hall allocated 300,000 euros (US$327,000) and promised a series of specific emergency interventions to combat the invasion, following a meeting with key trade associations.

A permanent commission was created and the emergency measures would aim to “protect citizens and economic activities in the area,” Mayor Andrea Casamenti said in a statement. But no details were immediately released.

Local residents want more, demanding that the Tuscan region declare a state of emergency to free up even further funding. A change.org petition “Save the Orbetello Lagoon” had registered more than 19,000 signatures by late Thursday.

“We cannot take a walk in the open air. We cannot open the windows. We are segregated in the house” like during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the petition read. It blamed ineffective management of the lagoon for the calamity.

Pier Luigi Piro, president of the Orbetello fishermen cooperative, said that the lagoon ecosystem needs serious infrastructural investments to clean out canals and favor the exchange of water between the lagoon and the Tyrrhenian. He said that he hoped that the consortium of the mayor’s office and trade groups that have come together to deal with the crisis gets to work as soon as possible.

“Everything we’re doing, we hope to have a serene tourist season, otherwise beyond the damage a lot of activities will risk closure,” he warned.

Paolo Santalucia, The Associated Press