Bluefin tuna is a symbolic species of the Mediterranean, but also one of the most fragile: for decades it has been overexploited to the point of population collapse. Only thanks to stricter fishing limits, its numbers are slowly returning to sustainable levels. But this recovery has also rekindled interest in fattening “farms”, facilities where tuna caught at sea are retained and fed before marketing.
And it is precisely on this idea that Coldiretti Pesca is now aiming for the future of the Italian fishing industry.
The project: bring the bluefin tuna supply chain back to Italy
During the European fishing summit in Cetara, Coldiretti Pesca presented a proposal that is causing a lot of talk: creating new bluefin tuna “farms” in Italy, bringing back to our country the fattening phase which is currently carried out mainly in Malta.
The proposed model follows a consolidated industrial logic: bluefin tuna are not bred like other animals, but are first fished in the open sea and then transferred to intensive plants where they are fattened before slaughter and marketing. Currently, much of the bluefin tuna caught by the Italian fleet is transferred across the border for this crucial phase of the supply chain.
Coldiretti officially presented the project to the European Fisheries Commissioner Costas Kadis during a meeting in Brussels, proposing a fattening model defined as “light” – almost a maintenance – which should preserve the natural characteristics of the fish and adapt it to the taste of the Italian and European markets. The association promises the use of sustainable materials for cages and packaging, with the aim of guaranteeing a product available all year round and with greater traceability.
According to the association, Italian “farms” could generate new job opportunities, involve local fleets and strengthen the entire national supply chain. Consumers would be guaranteed greater safety and traceability thanks to the mandatory Masaf seal, which certifies the quality and origin of each specimen.
What about environmental risks?
Despite promises of sustainability and an emphasis on reducing environmental impact, intensive bluefin tuna farming poses significant risks that cannot be ignored. Fish, caught in the open sea and transferred to large cages for fattening, inevitably generate high concentrations of organic waste – faeces, food residues, antibiotics – which can profoundly damage the surrounding marine ecosystems.
Greenpeace Italia, together with its Investigative Unit, launched a clear and documented alarm in the “Red Gold Rush” report: this sector is growing without adequate environmental standards, without precise rules on the management of the plants and without defined criteria on animal welfare. The environmental organization highlights how the absence of rigorous controls can transform “farms” from a solution to a real threat to our seas.
The report brings to light a worrying picture: according to the official database of ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas), there are 13 fattening plants for bluefin tuna in Italy, but only three of these have accessible geographical coordinates and just six report a production capacity. The most disturbing data concerns four plants with the highest declared production – 7,525 tonnes of tuna, equal to 80% of all tuna farmed in Italy – which are registered to the Ministry of Agriculture but, according to the Ministry’s response to Greenpeace, do not appear to be operational. These are, essentially, “ghost facilities”, existing only on paper, used to book future fishing quotas in advance, creating the risk that some operators will be favored to the detriment of others.
An emblematic case is that of Battipaglia, where at the end of 2024 the authorization was granted for a new fattening plant entrusted to the Tuna Sud company – a company which, according to official data, has neither employees nor turnover and which obtained the green light without any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The plant should have been built in an area already characterized by pollution problems. Fortunately, after Greenpeace’s complaint, the municipal administration canceled the concession, but the case demonstrates the lack of transparency and controls that characterizes this sector.
Without stringent, transparent and binding regulation, intensive bluefin tuna farming could jeopardize the fragile recovery of the species, undermining decades of conservation efforts and pushing bluefin tuna towards a new demographic collapse. The new rush for “red gold” risks enriching a few unscrupulous entrepreneurs, to the detriment of marine ecosystems and fish species already in difficulty.
Sources: Coldiretti / Greenpeace
