The Fish House of Talamone was born from an idea of Paolo Fanciulli, an environmental fisherman from Maremma.
The project aims to protect the marine environment by installing on the seabed, in the area that embraces the Maremma Park from Talamone to the mouth of the Ombrone, 100 blocks of marble bollards that prevent illegal trawling actions, which damage the ecosystem.
At the moment 24 have been installed and another 15 are ready for launch.
A real underwater museum.
The project
It all began in 2006, when the Tuscany Region involved the Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment of Tuscany (ARPAT) and the Province of Grosseto in the launching of the bollards and fish restocking barriers, or the sinking of large concrete blocks reinforced with hook-bent steel rods, capable of seriously damaging the fishing gear.
However, the funding was sufficient to create only some protection bands.
On this basis, Paolo Fanciulli, at the helm of the Monte Argentario Small Fishing Consortium, intervened by involving the fish sector of AGCI Agrital, the WWF Italy, the Italian Federation of Sport Fishing and Underwater Activities (FIPSAS), the Municipality of Orbetello, many companies and associations. locals and many Italian and foreign tourists. Thanks to this collaboration, he was able to finance the launch of a triple number of bollards in the area in front of the Uccellina Mountains, managing to protect the entire area from illegal fishing.
Over the years, nature has regained the upper hand and so the dream has changed: to enrich 'the fish house' with artistic works placed at a depth between 10 and 20 meters, capable of encouraging many tourists to "put their heads under 'water' and create new perspectives for sustainable development, capable of counteracting the spread of cement.
And so the 'The House of Fish' project became ambitious. These are the objectives:
- improve the level of fish restocking in shallow and deeper waters, also by protecting them from illegal fishing;
- create marine educational paths for a more instructive use of the most beautiful stretches of coast;
- create a marine garden of art in the bathing areas, with sculptures and installations that are an attraction for tourists, creating a unique underwater protection area and attraction for those wishing to snorkel.
Useful art
Artists from all over the world have supported the cause, and continue to do so, through the creation of sculptures, which enrich an environment in which art protects nature. Internationally renowned sculptors such as Giorgio Butini, Massimo Catalani, Massimo Lippi and Emily Young. Furthermore, numerous associations and many people have already funded the project. Every single sculpture represents a dream towards the goal of protecting the Maremma, this vast area of Tuscany that extends between the provinces of Livorno and Grosseto, characterized by a crystalline sea, long beaches, impervious rocks, dense woods, lake and flat areas. , green cultivated hills, and natural thermal areas.
If you love the sea, you want to know more and maybe participate in the project, the official website is: https://www.casadeipesci.it/.
Trawling
Trawling is one of the most widespread methods in the world, but it is also one of the most terrible, because it causes the destruction of the seabed and marine biodiversity in an often irreversible way.
It involves the dragging of a vast net on the seabed, designed precisely to maximize the catch of fish. Its targets are commercially valuable species that live near the seabed, such as cod, redfish and various types of squid and shrimp.
In addition to directly killing many fish and other marine species, studies have shown that trawling is truly devastating to the seabed. It removes sediments, thus destroying the habitat of the organisms that live there, turbid the water making it unsuitable for many species, it also releases pollutants and carbon trapped under the seabed.
The non-selectivity of the method causes the net to take away everything that enters its radius. It happens that even the turtles find themselves entangled in the nets, suffocating among the other fish.
Everything that is caught without being wanted is called bycatch: “useless” fish, which are thrown back into the sea, often already dead.
In Italy for several years it has been decided to ban trawling along the coast, that is, within three nautical miles and on bottoms less than 50 meters deep. The penalties for those who practice this illegal fishing are very heavy. There is a risk of a large fine to the revocation of the fishing license.
Little thing if you think of the "incalculable" damage to the environment.
"The fish house" has become a book, the preface is by Fulco Pratesi (WWF Italy) and Alessandro Giannì (Greenpeace).
You can find it everywhere on the web and in Maremma in all bookstores or in Amazon. It costs € 14.25.
Every income from the sale of the book goes to the project. Why the museum must grow. Where the 39 works dropped into the sea in 2015 are now, the marine ecosystem has been reborn, along with flora and fauna. The goal is to extend the protected area by placing new sculptures.
The next goal is to put into the sea, by the spring of 2023, 20 bollard blocks of raw marble from the quarry, which, starting from the Apuan Alps, will return to the sea.
I don't usually advertise in my articles, but I love the sea and people like Paolo (even if I don't know him personally yet!) Who put their hands and heart in what they believe in.