Rialto: Mostly Foreign Fish

This surprised me. Only about 20% of the fish sold at the Rialto fish market come from local waters.This according to a new statistical bulletin put out by Il Mercato Ittico del Tronchetto, as reported in today's Gazzettino. While some come from other spots in Italy, the majority are from other parts of the world, mainly  Northern Europe, Asia, and South America. Shrimp from Argentina. Cuttlefish from Malaysia. Squid from Norway and Thailand.

Reasons? Lower production levels in the local Adriatic waters and in the Venetian lagoon combined with the effect of the globalization of markets. The news, however, is not all bad. 2005 local production is actually up 20%, so it may be turning around.

                         Looks Finnish to me

Comments

[Jon]

Yeh, that's true. We were down at the fish market, Rialto, over New Year and it's very visible how little local fish there is. Da Fiore gets its fish from Tronchetto, for example, local fish just off the boats. I wonder if these statistics by the people of Tronchetto was making a point? By the way, I can highly recommend the book "The City of Falling Angels" by John Berendt. Anyone read it? Stupid question really. Doesn't it give a great view of the private side of Venice?

Best wishes
Jon
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I've read the book and have been writing a little review in my head for a while. Stay tuned.

The Tronchetto is the area near Piazzale Roma where many local shipments are trucked into the city. So that's why the stats came from there.

N.

[William G. Giery]

I read "Midnight" and enjoyed visiting Savannah. I read "Falling Angels", visited this past April and and fell in love with Venice. I am now obsessed and I love it. Next year I am renting a villa and staying for as long as I am able.