Fishing in the Venetian Lagoon

              For centuries the government of Venice have installed laws and regulations on one of it oldest and most profitable industry: fishing. Fishing has long been a component in the local economy thus there are many rules fisherman have to follow. Starting in 1261 the Giustizia Nuova created commercial laws and codes such as quota checks, fishing methods, and hygienic retail stations. What’s amazing to me about fishing near Venice is the fact that there were so many regulations in regards to the health of the lagoon and to prevent over fishing and this was roughly 800 years ago. Many of these regulations are still used throughout modern societies since they are effective.

              We had the opportunity to visit one of the fish markets around the lagoon. Here we had the fish market manager speak to us about how the fishermen, the sellers, and the buyers operate in this industry. All the fishermen must meet the rules of the market on the fish they are bringing in which sort of represents what they have been during centuries ago. Another interesting fact is that during the selling of the fish buyers will negotiate with the sellers in order to get the best price. Instead of a lively auction the buyers will whisper their bid to the auctioneer whenever a valuable fish is on the market and whoever whispered the highest bid wins.

              In the picture below is an example of people selling fish after buying from the market in the morning. An observation I saw was that many sellers were cleaning their stations which reminded me of the rule that was set in 1261. I believe they were cleaning in order to make their stand more presentable to the people walking through or possibly it is a rule set by the community to have clean stands throughout the day.

              Another presentation we had at the market was from a biologist who explain more the regulations that had to do with the environment. He explained that there were different seasons for certain types of fish, equipment that was not allowed, and showed us maps of places that are legally allowed to fish. All of these rules have been in practice by different governments for centuries around the lagoon. I was in awe to learn about the fishing industry from different perspectives and how it how been a critical component of the local economies around the Venetian lagoon.