ITALY
Making themselves at home in the Adriatic
The long-lasting success of the Manila clam Aurelio Zentilin, Director of Health, in the shellďŹ sh cooperative Almar, remembers that, until about 1970 when ďŹ shing for Callista chione began in the Adriatic, farming and ďŹ shing for clams was not a very good business. Throughout Europe, there were problems with sanitation related to clams, he says. Diseases such as typhus, salmonella, and even hepatitis could be traced to contaminated clams. There was a lack of refrigeration and depuration. When we started farming clams in the Marano Lagoon in 1986, ďŹ sh production was high and clam production was low. Now, that has turned around 180 degrees.
T
he idea to farm clams in Marano lagoon was inspired by the successful introduction of the Manila clam (Tapes philippinarum) in the Venice lagoon in 1983, using seed purchased from an English hatchery. Production in the Marano lagoon started on 29 April 1986 and today, 90% of Almar’s production comes from farming, approximately 694 tonnes. The remaining 76 tonnes is fished. Almar (Acquacoltura lagunare Marinetta Soc. Coop. Agricola a R.L.) was founded in 1995. It is a cooperative consortium that leads the production chain directing the production and marketing of shellfish in areas of Marano lagoon and the provinces of Trieste and Ferrara. The consortium shares common practices and procedures, laid out in a dedicated policy document. The cooperative started with the nine people who built it, while today it has forty employees.
Harvesting more varieties than trout Although the business was founded on the success of the Manila clam, today’s cooperative produces a number of other shellfish varieties, including mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), oysters (Crassostrea gigas and www.eurofishmagazine.com
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Ostrea edulis), striped clams (Venus gallina), smooth clams (Callista chione), cockles (Acanthocardia spp. and Cardium spp.), and razor clams (Ensis spp.). Currently, the cooperative produces approximately 1,100 tonnes annually and catches approximately 200 tonnes, but the total is expected to increase to between 2,000 and 2,500 tonnes in coming years. Manila clams are farmed in the lagoon, mussels are farmed in the sea near Trieste, on longlines, while Adriatic clams, the smooth clams, and razor clams are farmed in the Adriatic. The Marano and the adjacent Grado lagoons are located in the northern Adriatic, covering an area of approximately 160 square kilometres, with a length of nearly 32 kilometres and an average width of 5 kilometres. Generally, the Mediterranean tides are of a very low amplitude. The northern Adriatic is one of the few places in the Mediterranean with noticeable tides, which reach about 1.5 metres. With the tides, the inflow of rivers, and precipitation, the water changes completely and is regularly renewed. This has favoured the development of clam culture in the lagoon, because it enriches the water with phytoplankton. On the other hand the temperature and salinity change completely
The team at the processing factory of the Almar cooperative. Aurelio Zentilin, the Director of Health, is second from left.
also depending on the season. In winter, the lagoon can be covered with ice, and in spring and the start of summer, the temperature of the water can be very high.
The Manila clam needs no introduction With the world production of 3 million tonnes per year, the Manila clam is economically the world’s most important bivalve species. According to the FAO, its production represents 20% of the global bivalve market. China is by far the leading producer of Manila clams with approximately 97% of world production, but Italy, with a production of 50,000 tonnes annually – 90% of European production – is second, followed by the USA, Spain, and
France. Northern Adriatic production contributes up to 95% of the overall Italian production. Most production happens north of the Po River, where the area has plenty of sand and mud. About 70% of Italian production is consumed internally and the rest is exported, mostly to Europe, primarily Spain. Consumption is directed almost exclusively to the live-product trade. Mostly, the product is packaged fresh in net bags, says Mr Zentilin, but now we package them in vacuum packs. They are fresh and alive, and can be refrigerated at 6°C for seven days. The packs are not so popular near the coast, because consumers want them fresh and the vacuum pack is more expensive. As the Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2014
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