Farmed fishing

Open sea aquaculture, Italia lags behind in Europe

There are only 19 plants along the Italian coast, compared to 300 in Greece and 540 in Turkey: operators are aiming to increase production, but are asking for clearer competences and more streamlined procedures

by Alessio Romeo

15 April 2026

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

On Italian tables there is more and more fish, farmed and above all foreign. Just 19 concessions for sea farms on over 8 thousand kilometres of coastline make Italia the Cinderella of Europe in this sector. Despite consumption that is higher than the European average, 31 kg per capita per year compared to 24, 60% concentrated outside the home and growing by 3% by 2024, the overall deficit has reached 86% (the EU one stops at 73%, with a red balance of trade of 20 billion, of which seven billion for Italia). Yet aquaculture is a healthy sector with wide margins for growth, also given the crisis in traditional fishing, against which it made a historic global overtaking last year, destined to consolidate in 2050 when, according to the FAO, it will cover 70% of world consumption.

Target: doubling production

As emerged at a recent meeting promoted by the Italian Fish Farmers Association, fish farms aim to double production, allying themselves with traditional fishing to intercept a growing consumption increasingly covered by imports. An objective that is possible on condition that we overcome the structural knots that slow down the sector's growth, starting with that of concessions for offshore breeding: the 19 Italians are compared to the 540 of Turkey and the over 300 of Greece, the main competitors in the Mediterranean area.

Not to mention Norway, whose salmon, with thousands of farms, is the leading national industry (ahead of even oil) as evidenced by the invasion of the world market, well accompanied and financed by the rich state promotion agency. The Scandinavian country has managed to produce 1.5 million tonnes of fish in the sea, while Italia is stuck at 15 thousand.

In Italia traditional fishing still prevails over aquaculture, with a production of around 65 million tonnes and 600 million turnover against 51 million 400 million in turnover, achieved at over 800 production sites.

Excellence in inland aquaculture

However, some niches shine in 'domestic' aquaculture: Italia isthe first sturgeon caviar producer in Europe and the second in the world after China, which has grown very fast in a short time and now occupies 54% of the world market. The sea bass and sea bream hatchery sector has also tripled in the last five years, but Italia only absorbs 10% of production and difficult logistics risk holding back exports. If there were more farms, supplies would be ready for a 100% Made in Italy supply chain.

For the development of offshore fish farms, there is already a mapping of the most suitable sites for new concessions, recalledPresident of the Fish Op Claudio Pedroni, although competence lies with the regions. "We have unique potential," Pedroni said, "but development must be planned. Farming and traditional fishing are also asking for more transparency in the indication of origin on out-of-home consumption to support national production. That of livestock farming has grown slightly in recent years despite the aforementioned difficulties, while the fishing sector continues to record drops in production, with a fleet reduced by 25% in the last 20 years to 11 thousand boats, structural difficulties and steadily rising costs.

Increase sea bass imports

The president of the Api, an association representing over 90% of aquaculture companies, Matteo Leonardi, recalled that the expansion of the sector is much faster in Europe and the world than in Italia: "We risk losing an opportunity", while the import of sea bass and sea bream from Turkey increases "at prices that are not justified and salmon, which is inferior to trout as a product, is found everywhere. We need promotion, investment in adapting plants for the climate crisis, on improving the shelf life of the product in large-scale distribution, and a clear regulatory framework. On concessions, there is a lack of a clear rule on attributions and duration and this hinders both new applications and the development of existing ones. Competences must be clarified and the procedure for granting them, which in some cases has taken three years, must be shortened'. Also for the director of Federpesca, Francesca Biondo, action is needed on several fronts to reverse the trend. "Collaboration between traditional fishing and aquaculture," she explained, "can be the key to reducing dependence on foreign countries, thus promoting sustainability in all its aspects. Consumers need to be informed about the economic context in which a product is caught and not just how it was caught'.

Crisis and Effects of War

In the meantime, in recent days Coldiretti Pesca, Agci Pesca e Acquacoltura, Confcooperative, Legacoop and Federpesca have written two letters to the Ministry of Labour to draw the government's attention to the serious crisis in the 'traditional' fishing sector. In the first letter, the associations urge the adoption of the decree on compensation for the 2025 fishing ban, with certain deadlines for the submission of applications and disbursements. The second letter calls for the extension of the redundancy fund to the fishing sector and the activation of immediate social protection tools, with an extraordinary income support measure through the Wage Supplementation Fund linked to the energy crisis and the increase in fuel costs, "to cope with the drastic reduction in working days caused by the current economic context".