Annex I

This study critically analyzes the main narratives surrounding the Atlantic Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) in the Lagoon of Venice. We used a mixed-method approach, performing a qualitative discourse analysis on a sample of 68 textual sources to identify the narratives across two sectors in the management of the case study: media and politics, and scientific research. The texts were organized into a database (Annex I) of short sequences of words. Each sequence was assigned to a specific category and subcategory. The database was then quantitatively analyzed using distribution and word count analyses.
The study revealed three pivotal findings: in the media and politics discourse, the militarization of language is still prevalent; the scientific debate stresses the importance of efficient exploitation and marketing as the main solution to manage the blue crab; both scientific and public debate use specific words and rhetorical tactics to transform blue crabs into commodities.