Brescia a Tavola Examines Lake Garda Fish and Local Fishing Economy
“Fishing and Fish of Lake Garda,” was the theme around which the gastronomic evening proposed by the Club Pesce di Lago revolved. This event is part of the ongoing “Coregone, Lake Fish, Olive Oil, and Chiaretto della Valtenesi” exhibition, which is currently in full swing.
An event celebrating its 17th year, with the participation of 10 restaurants from Valtenesi and nearby towns (Al Porto di Moniga, Aurora, Monastero and Il Grillo Parlante di Soiano, Esenta di Lonato, Da Oscar Barcuzzi di Lonato, Locanda Santa Giulia di Padenghe, Il Melograno di Salò, Splendid Sole, and Tenesi di Manerba). The individual menus can be viewed on the website www.gardanotizie.it.
At Tenesi di Manerba, numerous personalities and figures gathered, including provincial assessors Giampaolo Mantelli (Agriculture) and Ermes Buffoli (Tourism), and the mayors of Valtenesi, with Isidoro Bertini hosting the event, along with Marco Cavallaro, a professional fisherman, and officials from the Provincial Department of Hunting and Fishing, Giuseppe Lorini and Dario Saleri, also representing the assessor Alessandro Sala. Present was also Carla Boroni, author of the volume “La cucina bresciana fra arte e letteratura.”
The Stages of Brescia a Tavola Academy
One of the three stages that the new organization, Accademia Brescia a Tavola, wanted to divide into key moments related to specific fishing periods: lake fish and coregone the first, currently underway; Sardina in June; and strictly, coregone in early September.
The various speakers covered numerous topics, starting with the fishing sector, which, as Cavallaro explained, comes from a family that has been exclusively and professionally involved in fishing for several generations. He mentioned that the sector is experiencing the arrival of new recruits.
“Some time ago, I was the only and last young person working among older fishermen. Back then, fishing barely allowed us to support our families; the catch was equally shared among the crew members.
In recent years, this activity has become economically much more profitable. Today, we work almost on the sale, that is, with no surplus and therefore no destruction of the catch. We are able to meet daily demand, which also helps keep selling prices low.”
Thanks to the dedicated efforts in recent years by the Province of Brescia, including the collection and incubation of coregone eggs, an excellent repopulation of coregone has been achieved, along with the stocking of nearby Lake Idro and Lake Iseo, satisfying some requests from other Italian lakes as well.
“Currently, in the incubator in Peschiera, awaiting the completion of the one in Desenzano — whose works seem imminent — over one million eggs are stored, about to hatch.
Of these fry, 60-70% will reach adulthood, and they won’t appear on our tables before four years. On average, about 6-7 million fish are caught annually, resulting in a turnover that reaches hundreds of millions of euros.”
The incubation of crucian carp, a particularly difficult and delicately flavored fish species found only in Lake Garda, has also been underway for several years in Peschiera, with very promising and exciting results.
Today, about 20,000 eggs are in incubation at Peschiera.
Finally, it’s worth noting the upcoming issuance of fishing regulations, the result of three years of work and discussions among the three provinces bordering Lake Garda: Brescia, Verona, and Trento.
