Bulgarian mussel farmers gamble on cooler depths as Black Sea warms

Heat pushes farmers deeper, but the risk isn’t gone

Rising temperatures in Bulgaria’s Black Sea are suffocating mussels, forcing farmers like Nayden Stanev to overhaul how they seed and harvest—timing work and moving to cooler depths. But even these adjustments can’t fully cancel the threat as warmer waters continue to spread, leaving livelihoods tied to a changing sea.