Ministero dell'Agricoltura e Foreste, Laboratorio Centrale di Idrobiologia (Roma)
Commercial fishery is carried out in Italy in lakes and in some reaches only, of chief rivers.
Sport fishery is carried out in overall national waters, excluding those of which are submitted to law limitations.
Expecially coregonids, ‘agoni’, perches are catched in the northern sites of large prealpine lakes (as the lakes Maggiore, Garda and Como). Pikes, carpes, tenches, and rudds are catched in the southern areas of the same lakes.
Water quality of lake Garda and Maggiore is better than that of Como lake.
Iseo lake suffers an intermediate degree of pollution, expecially in the coastal areas. Coregonids, carpes, tenches, ‘agoni’, and perches are the most important catches of this lake.
Industrial sewages have compromised the water quality of Orta lake, preventing any kind of fishery activities.
Varese lake is highly polluted, specially due to shallow depth (25m) and to affluents and effluents lack, so that there is a very scarce fishery yield. Black bass is the only commercial species catched. Rudds, roaches and perches represent most important yield.
Catfish is the main commercial species in the so called lakes of Mantova. Eels and perches are scarcely catched, while some species e.g. pikes seems in yield decrease.
Trasimeno lake is characterized by a shallow depth and reduced water exchanges. Tenches, perches, and pikes are abundant species, so as mullets which are annually stocked. Though its complex hydrographic conditions, the Trasimeno lake is full of fish.
Decreasing yields have been marked out for the vulcanic lakes of Latium region (as Bracciano, Bolsena, Vico and Albano) probabily due to termical and trophic reasons.
The italian total fishery yield for inland waters is estimated, by the Italian Statistics Agency (ISTAT), in about 10000 tons, wich results quite stable in time. The 50% of total yield is represented by eel (Anguilla anguilla), pike (Esox lucius) and perch (Perca fluviatilis); 35% by ciprinids as carp (Cyprinus carpio) and tenc (Tinca tinca); while the remaining 15% by trouts (Salmo gairdneri, S. trutta fario) and coregonids (Coregonus spp.).
In the lakes some species, as coregonids and eels, are annually restocked.
Eels are stocked in several lakes, most of which are located in northern Italy, because of artificial obstructions which prevent their remount from the sea.
Coregonids and perches are also used in this practice, catching breeder specimens and hatching eggs and juveniles.
Coregonids restocking, using reared fries, seems to show higher survival rates in natural environments.
Trouts are mainly stocked in running waters. At present brawn trout is currently used instead of rainbow trout.
From the legislative point of view, fishery in inland waters is governed by state laws. The administrative and legislative functions have been transferred to the Provinces since 1977, so that they can provide their rules by themselves. Nevertheless, an indispensable law reorganitation and a settlement of state and peripherical administration competences, has to come.
