The economy of Valle San Leonardo

The economy of the valleys has always been based on fishing, with eel fishing being particularly important.

With the arrival from Asia of the Anguilla Anguilla (known as “peocio”) in the 1970s, a parasite that affected scaleless fish, the production of eels and other fish was drastically decimated: the catch of a day back then can equal that of a season today!

The lack of supply of fry to grow in the valley lakes due to the natural tide rise, the increase in production costs, and the simultaneous reduction in selling prices in markets, due to the competition from intensive land and sea farming, have drastically reduced the typical economy of the valley.

The final and perhaps most drastic blow, however, was dealt by the arrival of cormorants, a non-native species, which, unchecked, due to its voracity, has practically wiped out fish production.

To compensate, albeit in a small part, for the losses related to fishing, an important contribution comes from the careful management of sports and nature activities and their related spin-offs. , the production of mazzancolle in the summer period, practiced in Valle San Leonardo since 1985, and the cultivation of “castraùre”, delicious artichokes that grow lush in the saline lands of the valley.