Fish of Italy

The seas around the country are not alike. The Adriatic is shallow, silty and heavily influenced by the rivers running into it; the Tyrrhenian drops away quickly over rocky ground; the Sicilian Channel, further south, sees open-ocean species pass through. Three frontages, three distinct fisheries.

In the north, the large glacial lakes — Garda, Maggiore, Como — are deep and cold, with a fauna of their own and methods specific to them. The Po plain below drains a dense network of slow rivers and irrigation canals, prime ground for the large freshwater species.

The climatic gap between the Alpine north and the Mediterranean south spreads the season considerably. One species can be active months apart depending on the region, and the periods shown on each page reflect a national average.