Porto Cesareo Small-Scale Fishing

The Porto Cesareo marine protected area extends over more than 16,000 hectares of sea along 32 kilometers of coast which includes Porto Cesareo and Nardò and stretches west along the Gulf of Taranto.
Porto Cesareo is home to an important fleet of small-scale, artisanal fishing boats-around 250-who play a crucial role in the local economy. This part of the Salento is a major tourist destination, with visitor numbers growing every year, but the local fishers are still closely connected to their traditional fishing activities, and this spot is famed for the quality of their catch.
Throughout the year, the Porto Cesareo fishers use different equipment depending on the type of species being targeted: mullet, wrasse, octopus, John Dory and shrimp are among the most characteristic species here and essential ingredients in quatara, Porto Cesareo’s typical fish soup. The nets used by the boats have 30-milimeter meshes and are 3,000 meters long. Most of the boats use fixed nets like trammel and gill nets year-round, but some others prefer to use traps, longlines and small driftnets. Over 70% of the boats are less then 8 meters long and have sub-50 Kw motors. They are generally built from wood, with a small cabin in the bow and a net-hauling winch in the stern.

Season

Available all year-round