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Mussel farmer Xavier Cabrera held out a handful of dry, dead mussels from his shellfish farm on the coast of the Ebro Delta, 100 miles (160 km) south of Barcelona. "Let's hope this isn't our future," he said ruefully.

A summer heatwave in the Mediterranean region killed off about 80% of the seed mussels - the tiny young that were going to be next year's harvest - and the little that was left of this year's production.