Aside from famous tourist spots and beautiful places, Italy is well-known for its delicious foods and dishes. As explained by spinningreelguide.net/best-fly-tying-vise/ foods such as pizza, all types of pasta, meat, and fish dishes are just some of the iconic foods that you can eat in the country.
In fact, one of the best things to do while in Italy is eating different types of fish dishes in the country’s seaside areas. Tourists are always looking forward to enjoying a plate of seafood in a place overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
Illegal Fishing and Industrialization in Italy
While a lot of tourists will definitely enjoy the fish dishes that can be found in Italian restaurants and eateries, the issue of illegal fishing has been affecting the fisheries and food industry for a while now.
Pirate fishing, simply called illegal fishing, is prevalent in the country in which fishermen used illegal fishing equipment in catching fish while avoiding environmental and government laws and protocols. Some fishermen used banned methods in fishing in order to catch more fish while neglecting the negative impact of their activities on corals and marine life.
Aside from illegal fishing, industrialization has already affected marine life not only in the country but in the whole world. With the demand and consumption of fish growing over the years, the result was the rapid industrialization in the fishing industry.
Big fishing companies now use advanced equipment such as sonar and satellites to catch more fish which results in the slow disappearance of several main fish species in the world.
The disappearance of some species has also affected the equilibrium of our ocean. Have you noticed the presence of thousands of jellyfish in the seashore recently affecting beachgoers and swimmers?
This is happening because jellyfish predators such as sea turtles, bluefin tuna, among others are slowly disappearing. Aside from that, the jellyfish competitor for food like small fish is also declining in numbers which results in the flourishing jellyfish population.
The big problem is, tourists and locals alike are not aware of the situation of the fish species and marine life in general.
How Can Tourists Help Address the Issue?
It is not too late to help marine life. We can, in our own little ways, protect marine life while staying in Italy. For one, we should be aware of what we eat while in the country and in other parts of the world. There are species of fish that we need to avoid eating because the species are slowly disappearing in our ocean.
In the Mediterranean alone, fish such as salmon, eel, red tuna, grouper, scallops, skate, hake, swordfish, tropical farmed shrimp, whitebait, and date mussels should be avoided at all costs. These are the dying species of fish that are all found in this side of Italy. Eating certain species during their peak season will also give the marine animals the chance to reproduce their species.
Conclusion
All of us must be aware of the current situation of our marine life. We should start helping each other to protect all fish species and marine life in general.