Liguria. The press conference and delivery of qualification certificates were held today for the conclusion of the first class of the “Fishing School” project: the first free professional course in Italy to become a professional fishing and aquaculture operator, financed by the Liguria Region with the FSE+ funds and in collaboration with Il Villaggio del Ragazzo. The creation of a “Fishing School”, supported by Coldiretti and Villaggio del Ragazzo with various institutional and private partners, aims to boost the regional fishing sector through the promotion of research and technological innovation.
This morning, on the docks of the Darsena of Genoa, Daniela Borriello, national manager of Coldiretti ImpresaPesca, explained the path that led the first 6 students in Italy to possess the multidisciplinary skills necessary for a complex and specialized sector such as fishing: “Before the Activation of the first course, we worked hard to create a recognized qualification as a professional fisherman, something that did not exist until today: a person who wished to undertake this profession could apply for a badge and train directly in the field, without however having a background complete and recognized training. From today, however, the qualification exists.”
“The paths activated within the ‘Fishing School’ project, of which the first module concludes today, will in fact make it possible to train professionals in the field of professional fishing who possess multidisciplinary skills – from navigation safety to environmental conservation and of biodiversity, passing through skills in hygiene and product conservation and some notes on the economic management of fishing companies. Most of the lessons saw the fishermen themselves wearing the role of the teacher, alongside marine biologists, officers from the Port Authority and experts in food safety and hygiene”.
The subjects covered during the academic course, which concluded with a theoretical and practical exam, covered the most varied areas: from fishing techniques to the navigation code; mussel farming, mariculture, food hygiene and notions of marine biology, on-board instruments and management of sector taxation. “All these and many others are the disciplines necessary to be able to enter the world of fishing as workers – continued Borriello – through the provision of tailor-made teaching formulas that allow the active involvement of individual participants and which today we can finally provide through recognition of the qualification at national level as a professional fisherman”.
“The great satisfaction is that at the end of the compulsory internship all the kids received full-time job offers – added Gianluca Boeri and Bruno Rivarossa, president of Coldiretti Liguria and confederal delegate – This is a path that is not limited to the diploma, but it is a starting point within a broader training program called ‘Fishing School’”.
The School will offer multiple training, research and consultancy activities, including qualification and specialization courses for fishing operators, as well as highly specialized courses. These training courses will train multidisciplinary professionals, qualified in navigation, environmental conservation and biodiversity. In the field of research and consultancy, the School will collaborate with research institutions and suppliers of innovative technologies with low environmental impact, safety and circular economy, ensuring a high qualitative value in the skills and services offered.
Today, following the institutional interventions in which the following spoke: Gianluca Boeri; Daniela Borriello: Nicola Visconti, director of the Education, Training and Work Area of the Villaggio del Ragazzo; Mirvana Feletti, official responsible for the Fisheries Sector of the Liguria Region; Paola Bordilli, councilor for commerce of the Municipality of Genoa;, Lorenzo Viviani and Felice Mammoliti, two Ligurian fishermen and teachers of the course; Elia Orecchia, commander of the MP Aquila Pescatrice and a young fisherman who hired Samuel Tizi, one of the newly graduated fishermen of the course. Together they talked about the importance of generational renewal in the fishing sector. At the end of the press conference, a buffet was organized prepared by Ittiturismo Ermana, a further symbol of the rebirth of the Darsena of Genoa and of a multifunctional sector such as fishing.
