Shanghai-Crab

“Shanghai-Crab“ follows the „Chinese Mitten Crab“'s life cycle and migration in north Germany‘s waterways. More than 100 years ago, the crab was unintentionally introduced into the ecosystem by the prussian war fleet coming back home from Asia to northern Germany. Since that time the crab lived here and will never go away, but still remained a stranger. In the new ecosystem, there were no natural enemies, and noone who wanted to eat the foreign crab. Soon the crab became a plague. For decades it was tried to extinguish the population of the Chinese Mitten Crab, but without success. An unwanted guest in the western world, the crab is a highly coveted delicacy in China. Unfortunately, the Mitten Crab became very rare in Chinese rivers. What was previously considered to be a plague, now became an export hit to Asia. The narrator guides the audience along the migration routes of the crab, and shows – besides north Germany‘s landscape – the life cycle of the Chinese Mitten Crab throughout all 4 seasons. On their way in the rivers, the crab is cought by fishermen and sold to Chinese people for the Mid Autumn Festival.