What Prospects for the Venice Lagoon?
Author InfoSilvia Silvestri (Agro-forestry Systems and University of Padova) M. Pellizzato (Agri.Te.Co. and University of Venice) V. Boatto (Agro-forestry Systems and University of Padova) Abstract Fishing has always been an important activity for those Venetians who live near the Lagoon, and it still enjoys an important economic and social role in the region. Over the last few years, however, the fishing industry has been subject to a profound transformation both in the reduction of the variety and the abundance of the species found in the lagoon, and in the change from a complex and well-structured type of activity to one which has become monospecialist, that is based principally on the fishing of the bivalve Tapes philippinarum (Adam & Reeve). The widespread diffusion of this bivalve and its considerable commercial value have resulted in an increased harvest, initially carried out by hand but now by more sophisticated methods which are capable of obtaining much higher yields. The so
