Fish and seafood

Small-scale fishing at Porto Cesareo

Small-scale fishing at Porto Cesareo: the catch of a protected Ionian sea

Some 250 boats, most of them small wooden craft under eight metres long, fish the marine protected area of Porto Cesareo, more than 16,000 hectares of sea between Porto Cesareo and Nardò. Trammel nets and gillnets with regulated mesh, pots and longlines change with the species and the time of year. The fishers of the Slow Food Presidium have agreed fishing times and sizes that give the sea time to recover.

• Signature species include red mullet, lappane, octopus, prawns and John Dory
• Sandy and rocky seabeds, Posidonia meadows and coralligenous reef, protected since 1997
• Adult fish, taken by small boats with regulated-mesh nets

How to enjoy it. At home here it becomes quatara, the fishermen's soup: shellfish and crustaceans first, then fish from the firmest to the most tender, with country bread to soak up the broth.

Production areas

Apulia

Season

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