The new frontier of responsible tourism

Imagine spending a day on board a fishing boat next to fishermen, learning

about the coastal environment and the secrets hidden within the depths of the

sea, observing ancient and fascinating fishing methods, tasting freshly caught

fish, rediscovering traditional local recipes, practice actual fishing, while diving

in places inaccessible from ground routes that are small naturalistic jewels.

all this is now possible, it’s called

Fishing tourism

Last summer many tourists were able to experience this exciting novelty in

many Italian locations, from Punta Campanella in Campania to Lipari and in

Valdèmone in Sicily, but also in the Venetian lagoons, in the Tuscan

Archipelago, in the small islands of Sardinia and along the fascinating

Ligurian coast.

Taking part in a fishing holiday will let you know some of the most popular

fishing systems in our country. An opportunity to learn something more about

the fishing craft, to which we want to prepare you for, providing you with some

simple information on the various tools used by fishing tourism cooperatives

that you find on this site.

In Campania, Liguria, Sardinia, Sicily, Emilia Romagna and Lazio, you can

participate in a fishing trip with the “NETWORKS”, nets left at sea waiting for

the fish to stumble in them remain stuck. A technique also known in antiquity,

very little has changed over time. The most famous are:

The “TREMAGLIO”, a very particular net that is lowered to the bottom to

capture valuable species, such as lobsters. It is composed of three nets with

different meshes: the fish, entering it, easily pass the first net, with larger

meshes, and remains bagged in the second, while the third precludes any

possibility of exit;

the “FERRETTARA”, formed instead by a single net with different meshes

depending on the species to be fished. In this case, the fish remains

harnessed with the head in the meshes, and cannot get out anymore.

The “NASSE”, which you will find in Campania and Lazio, are instead of small

traps, built with wicker or nets mounted on wood and iron, triggered with baits

of different nature depending on the species to be fished. They are defined as

“mobile traps” because they are pulled on board every time the fish is taken,

and thrown back into the sea for a new harvest. They are equipped with a

funnel “inlet” in which, once lowered into the sea, the fish, attracted by the

bait, enters and remains trapped.

“PALANGARO”, also called “PALAMITO” or “COFFA”, uses baited hooks

with natural/artificial bait, with olfactory or luminous attraction. On a long

cable, numerous hooks are mounted at regular intervals, then lowered near

the bottom (this is the case of the cod) in half water or on the surface (as with

tuna) depending on the species to be captured. You can try this type of

fishing in Liguria and Campania.

The “CIANCIOLO” is a surface “circuition” network: its characteristic is to be

very large, limited in the upper part by corks and floats, and in the lower part

by leads. Once identified a block of fish, it is surrounded by the boat, which,

by lowering the net, makes a complete turnaround the bench. The file of the

leads is then tightened, creating a bag that is pulled on board, loaded with

fish. This type of fishing tourism can be carried out with cooperatives

operating in Liguria and Campania.

Also in Campania, on the nights of July and August, you can take part in a

very special catch: the “TOTANARA”. It is a line system, with the

characteristic of having a special hook, the anchor, without baits. The squid is

attracted by the movement of the hook and by luminous lamps lowered into

the sea. The lines are lowered and kept under continuous control by the

fisherman. As soon as a specimen is hooked, recovery begins. The lines can

be held by hand or with a fishing rod, left standing waiting for a fish to bite it,

or moved around to encourage predators to chase the bait.

To see the harvest of mussels and clams, choose to go to Goro, in Emilia

Romagna. You can visit sea facilities where mollusks are harvested, or take

part in the catch with the “RASTRELLI” in the Sacca di Goro. These are

dented implements which, scraping the bottom, collect the clams within sacks

in a bag, separating them from the sand or mud. They can be towed on foot

or directly from the boat.

If these few notions are not enough to satisfy your curiosity, you can have

other more technical details by connecting with the site

www.federcoopesca.it/Initiative. In the “Fishing” section you can then find

detailed information on all fishing systems practiced in Italy.