Taranto, a permanent table for mussel farmers damaged by the Mar Piccolo

The mussel farmers of Taranto damaged by pollution will be able to breathe a sigh of relief with a single concession for mussel farming. In fact, the administrative procedure for the unification of state concessions has started, a solution that will allow those who cannot use the Mar Piccolo to benefit from considerable savings in economic terms consisting of a single procedure.

This was explained by the Councilor for Sea Resources, Cosimo Ciraci, on the sidelines of the technical table on mussel farming which brought together the operators of the sector, among the most important for the local economy, and the Municipality of Taranto.

The administration’s action, according to what has emerged, intends to provide support to overcome the critical issues of a sector which in the last two years in particular has started to grow again on the market, above all thanks to the Slow Food Presidium quality brand obtained from the Taranto black mussel . «Everything possible will be done to obtain the release of the first inlet of the Mar Piccolo», Ciraci then announced, in reference to the body of water still forbidden to cultivation after the ordinance on environmental matters.

The concessions

«Following the initiative of our Administration and the work carried out by the Management and our employees, whom I thank – declared councilor Ciraci – the operators in the sector know that they can present themselves at the Municipality offices and file the requests to obtain the unification of state concessions, a method that caters to all those mussel farmers who cannot fully use the Mar Piccolo due to the well-known regional ordinances that limit its use for reasons relating to pollution. Of course, not all the problems of what is a vital sector for the Ionian economy are resolved, but the signal we want to give is that through this permanent table, which convenes itself every month, the next one will be June 18th, we administrators public we are a constant point of reference and I think this is the most important thing. We are working hard in the general interests and we are doing everything possible to meet the needs of the community in general and, specifically, of this sector which is very important to us. Now there is another delicate issue to deal with: that which concerns the seizure of the area of ​​the first breast of the Mar Piccolo, which is the most important for the cultivation of mussels. During the roundtable, assurances were given that we will try to understand how to obtain the revocation of the precautionary measure. Also because, once that area has been released, operators in the sector will have much more space, they will have much more opportunity to cultivate mussels and produce them in a finished manner.”

The Slow food presidium

The mussel is once again the protagonist thanks also to the commitment of the mussel farmers of Taranto in protecting the Mar Piccolo: the increasingly marked abandonment of plastic in production has made it possible to obtain precious recognition for a product that was in crisis. The use of biodegradable material was a determining factor from a Slow Food perspective, because sustainability is the future of production and Taranto was a pioneer city: the centuries-old history of mussel farming in Mar Piccolo had to be safeguarded, valorised, because it is tradition, it’s economy, it’s employment. Hundreds of families live from mussel farming, but with the transformation of the mussel new opportunities open up.

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© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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