social INTERSECTIONS
DELTA ACTORS. aquaculture
Many human activities in the Po delta are linked to water. Marshes and lagoons have generally been exploited for fishing. Traditional fishing (eel farming, in particular) has been one of the most important economic resources of this area for centuries. Salt marshes were transformed into fishing lagoons by bringing in seawater through artificial canals, in order to keep the lagoon mouths active and to favor the circulation of the water. “The tidal range is approximately 80 cm (average), and marshes were regulated in order to obtain favourable conditions for fish breeding. Salinity varies considerably in connection with management. The average values were 15-25% in winter and spring, 25-35% in summer and fall.�19 The development of new techniques of mollusc cultivation allows intensive fishfarming, in particular eel and mullet in some basins of the Valli di Comacchio and of the Venetian side of the delta; clams and other shellfish grow in the Sacca di Goro, Sacca degli Scadovari and other smaller lagoons.
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Figure 68 (top). Map of the Po Delta on the existing network between urban settlements and their centers of production