Fishing and Clam Harvesting in the Venice Lagoon

On 1/12/20 our article presentation was on Fishing and Clam Harvesting in the Venice Lagoon. The article illustrated the two broad types of fishing that go on in the Venice Lagoon. One is artisanal fishing, and the other is industrial clam harvesting. I would say that the main differences between the two are that artisanal fishing is more rooted in tradition than industrial clam harvesting, and that the techniques used in artisanal fishing are far more numerous and less technologically advanced than in industrial clam harvesting. Fishing is extremely important in the Venice Lagoon area, but the frequency of fishing can cause stock depletion and damage to the environment if not managed carefully and correctly. There is unfortunately more management of the fisheries than there is of the environment, which shows that in this society people are not considering the effects that the fishing market can have on their environment. In the article, there was a study through a software that tested on different scenarios in the Venice Lagoon in which the effort put into managing fisheries and the effort put into managing the ecosystem were compared at different levels. In our class discussion about this article, we asked if there should be regulations on fishing in the Venice Lagoon, most said that there should be. We also discussed if the profits made from fishing are worth the damage caused to the Lagoon. The class seemed split on this question because fishing is so important to the community there, but also the environment in Venice is so fragile that it is hard to imagine the effects that more intense fishing could cause. 

After leaving Venice, we went to Chioggia to visit a local fish market and the location in which the fish are auctioned off. There we talked to one man named Alberto, who told us about the process of auctioning off the fish and the other things that go on in the fish building and on the water nearby. The auction process was the most interesting part to me because it consists of a type of auction that I had never heard of or imagined before. This process involves whispering your bid to the auction taker, rather than yelling out the amount you’re willing to pay, and then yelling out increasingly higher amounts in order to have the highest bid. This makes it so that the auction taker knows who is really going to pay the most. Later we went inside another building nearby to talk to another man about the fishing process, techniques, and complications associated with fishing in the Venice Lagoon. His slideshow went over things we had been learning about and it brought up new information as well. Most of it was explaining the different fishing techniques that are used and also explaining which techniques were the most effective for the business and most detrimental to the environment. He also provided information about the routes that fishing ships take around the Venice Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, which showed that there are some areas that remain untouched by fishing boats, at least by those fishing boats that practice legal fishing. I thought it was interesting when the man talked about how loyal people in the business are to each other within the business. People will say they know people who practice illegal fishing techniques or who fish in prohibited areas, but they will never say who those people are. After talking to him, he led us to the Chioggia Fish Market, where we saw a variety of fish that were caught in the Venice Lagoon.

Fish in the Chioggia Fish Market