Crocodiles to control waste problem?

The mayor of Husavik on the north-east coast of Iceland is investigating using crocodiles to eat waste from the fishing industry, upon which the town depends. “It’s more environmentally friendly to use animals in the food chain to eat [the waste] than to dispose of it in other ways,” Mayor Reynisson told a BBC reporter.

The mayor thought of the idea after reading about a community in Colorado which operates a similar scheme. “They have hard winters, snow and frost and so on, but have access to geothermal water,” he said. “So, circumstances there are a bit similar to ours here in Husavik.” The warm ground water that is used for domestic heating and to produce electricity in the town would be a perfect environment for the crocodiles to feel at home, the mayor reportedly said.

The reptiles could also provide a boost in the form of a new breed of eco-tourism as has been the case in Colorado, but first the town must investigate the safety implications of importing the crocodiles, including the danger of diseases, before it can put them to work providing ‘environmental services’.