2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:20
Italy won the appeal against a legislation that prevented the fishing of clams smaller than 2, 5 centimeters.
The average diameter of the clams that populate the Adriatic is 22 millimeters. But until now, Europe has forbidden the marketing of shellfish if it is less than 25 millimeters in size, effectively bringing the entire sector to its knees.
So much so that the main newspapers had written that after orange juice without oranges and cheeses without milk, Europe wanted spaghetti without clams, without the legendary Adriatic "poor things", among the best varieties of clams in the world.
In reality, the European Union had taken over a decree from the Saragat government, albeit dating back to the 1960s, stepping up controls and therefore sanctions. The fishermen they carried on the ground smaller molluscs of the indicated size were liable to a fine of up to 4000 euros.
The Undersecretary for Agricultural Policies Castiglione, present in Brussels, requested and obtained that from January 2017, and for three years, it is possible to fish clams starting from 22 millimeters.
THE 1480 certified Adriatic clam fishermen they thank, while on the tables of us consumers there is another debate: are the smaller clams as good as the large ones?