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GOOD PRACTICE

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Fish tourism, or "ittiturismo", in southern Italy diversifies fishermen and promotes new economic opportunities

Italy

Fish tourism, or
Period
2010 - in progress

In the coastal province of Lecce, Italy, fishermen are challenged by limited economic opportunities. Ittiturismo is emerging as a solution, transforming fishermen into restaurateurs able to manage the entire value chain. Anime Sante Ittiturismo in Tricase Porto, a family-run business, integrates fishing and agriculture, offering economic diversification and resilience. Ittiturismo relies on traditional recipes to increase profitability and community well-being.

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Identification needs
The constraints of the territory are mostly related to the limited economic opportunities for fishermen. As the province of Lecce is far from large markets and cities, fishermen's opportunities to sell their products are limited to local fish markets. In addition, environmental constraints are a regionally recognised problem. There is a need for effective management of marine resources, as they are diminishing and the Mediterranean is becoming increasingly polluted and inhospitable to life and biodiversity.
Stakeholder change
Ittiturismo (Fish tourism) Good Practice is based on the idea of promoting a wiser management of fisheries and marine resources, as well as economic diversification and resilience for fishermen. Ittiturismo Good Practice improves the economic opportunities of the fisherman or the fishing community by adding value to the resources they catch themselves. In fact, the fisherman becomes a restaurateur, transforming the resources he catches and offering catering and restaurant services to the public. The fisherman becomes the manager of the entire value chain. In Tricase Porto, Anime Sante Ittiturismo is a family business (5, 6 people are involved). The family is the supplier of the fish resources, as well as of all the agricultural products, since it owns land where organic vegetables are grown. In Tricase Porto, the Ittiturismo Anime Sante is conceptually similar to an agritourism, but in the Ittiturismo fish resources and agricultural resources are produced and sold to the public.
Change triggered
I think the practice is transferable. In fact, especially in small coastal communities where there is a relevant cooking tradition, the possibility for fishermen to process the resources they catch is particularly relevant. In fact, the good practice contributes to increasing the benefits derived from fishing, since the same product has a higher price through processing. However, there are limits to this good practice. Indeed, if there are no people available to support the fishermen, fish-tourism  becomes complex. In fact, the workload would become unbearable for the fisherman if he were the only one involved in all the activities of the value chain. Another potential constraint is the lack of tourism in the coastal community. In fact, it is possible that in the absence of tourism, the catering activities and the practice of fish-tourism itself are not very profitable.
Short description

The practice is technically feasible, but may be complex to implement as food processing may be subject to multiple constraints, taking into account national food security legislation. On the other hand, it may be easy to implement, since it is based mainly on giving relevance and importance to the traditional income of the coastal community. In fact, the point of the "fish-tourism" is to bring together existing activities in the same place in order to accumulate the benefits of these activities for the fisherman or the fishing community and the people involved in the practice.

Decent Work and Economic Growth
Responsible Consumption and Production