A fishing boat seen in the distance at night

This little-known Italian paradise is more than meets the eye

The Po River Delta region holds surprising finds, from architectural treasures to wildlife wonders, and a community of barrier-breaking women fishers.

Italy’s Po Delta region is known as a conservation hub, supported by a thriving fishing industry and ecotourism. But few know about the community of women who fish these waters in a traditionally male-dominated profession.
Photographs byChiara Negrello
ByStefania D’Ignoti
September 24, 2021
15 min read

Every day at dawn, bird-watchers board boats at small villages near the coast of northeastern Italy to explore a natural wonder—the Po Delta Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-designated site, where the iconic 400-mile Po River meets the Adriatic Sea.

In the shallow waters and knotty reed thickets, visitors look for purple herons and pink flamingos, just two of the 360 bird species that flock to the country’s only delta and largest wetland. They also catch another sight—local women wading in the water, pulling up rascas (a type of rake with a net) which they use to catch clams.

Three women of different generations pose for a portrait standing side by dide
(From left) Chiara Vallati stands with her aunt Giovanna Tessarin and her mother Barbara Tessarin, who all work together in the fishing industry, along with Chiara’s grandmother. Chiara studied to become a chef but joined the family business because the pandemic prevented her from finding a restaurant job.

While nature lovers know about the area’s natural treasures, few know about these women, who have been contributing to the local economy for decades in a traditionally male-dominated profession. Photographer Chiara Negrello wanted to change that with a series of photographs documenting their daily lives.

Born and raised less than a two-hour drive from the reserve, Negrello followed the women for months as they fished these waters daily from dawn to dusk. Her photos defy the stereotype that often sees Italian women solely as caregivers raising families and managing households.

“The story of these women is an example of a type of feminism that doesn’t shout and that came about as a natural process of integration,” Negrello explains. “Through these photos, I hope to recognize the value and power of the small revolution they have brought and silently keep bringing every day within the Po Delta.”

A woman sorting clams on a boat in early morning light
Oscarina Soncin sorts newly harvested clams from a boat on the delta. Smaller clams are returned to the water where they will continue to grow.
Clams in a bin in early morning light
Clams in the sorting bin that are too small to be harvested fall through the grate. The bin also allows fishers to throw back any bycatch, such as crabs, oysters, and fish.

An ecotourism paradise

Straddling the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions, the Po Delta Biosphere Reserve is a vast, fertile landscape that shelters a myriad of habitats—from lagoons to coastal dune systems and sandbars—making it a major conservation hub in Europe. It’s also an ecotourism paradise that draws tourists for annual events, such as Slow Autumn” (Sept. 25-Dec. 19, 2021) encouraging slow travel, “Bird Watching Days” (Oct. 2-10, 2021), and the International Bird Watching Fair, held annually in the spring.

Beyond nature watching, sleepy fishing villages and historic cities scattered throughout the region are poised for exploration. Visitors typically set up home base in cities like Comacchio and Ferrara, whose close proximity to the delta make it easy to plan wildlife viewing day trips.

Dubbed “Little Venice” for its system of canals, Medieval Comacchio is far less crowded than its famous counterpart to the north. Ferrara offers a wealth of art museums and architectural ruins to poke around. Inscribed together with the reserve as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Ferrara is a prime example of a Renaissance-era city, whose ruling family once had an art collection that inspired the Medicis and the Pope.

This mix of nature, history, and culture draws millions of tourists to the region annually, though only about 118,000 people call the reserve home. Many make their living by harvesting mussels and clams, but for centuries, fishing was considered a low-income profession. In recent years, the industry has thrived, generating a yearly revenue of about 100 million euros before the pandemic.

In recent decades, women have been helping to boost the industry, choosing a profession that for generations was considered a “man’s job.” On tours, visitors learn about this history and meet the women, like Giovanna Pizzo, 49, who was born and raised in Porto Tolle and has dedicated 32 years of her life to aquafarming. “Most women here work with their husbands, but I decided to work by myself, to be fully independent,” she says.

Early morning illuminates the wetlands in Porto Tolle.
Ducks on a river bank at sunset
Geese roam the banks of the Porto Tolle river, one of many rivers that flow through the delta.

Pizzo didn’t start out in the fishing business. Before taking the dive, she—like many women in the area—worked in the textile industry. “Men would fish; women would sew. That was life in our corner of the world since the end of World War II,” says Luciano Chiereghin, a historian with the Delta Research and Documentation Center in Porto Tolle.

(These women are rocking the boat in the sport of outrigger canoe.)

But all that changed in the 1980s when many textile factories, lured by cheaper labor costs, relocated to Romania. The delta region suffered a brief economic fallout, and the majority of women abruptly lost their livelihoods.

Soon after, local businesses found a way to absorb the textile industry’s collapse by importing the Manila clam, a Philippine variety that proved to be much more hardy than the local species in the delta’s aquafarms.

Village covered in pastel morning light
Like all the villages in the area, much of Porto Tolle’s economy is based on fishing for clams, which are sent to restaurants and stores in Italy and throughout Europe.
A woman wearing red looking into a mirror
Giovanna Pizzo puts perfume on. Despite the gritty job, Pizzo enjoys wearing earrings when she’s fishing and matches them to her outfits.
Shadow of a tree on a house facade in early morning light
Early morning light creates soft shadows against a house in Scardovari village, near Sacca di Scardovari Park.
A grandmother and grandmother enjoying an afternoon snack at home at the table
Oscarina Soncin prepares a snack for her granddaughter, Ilaria, at Soncin’s home. The two share a close bond.
Granddaughter and grandmouther sitting on a couch for a portrait
Alessia Turri sits with her grandmother Maria Rosa Turri below a picture of Alessia as an infant with her parents, in Gorino on March 31, 2021. The two live and work together in the Po Delta. Maria Rosa started clamming a year ago, after her husband died.

Fishing for empowerment

As the Manila clam thrived, women turned from fabrics to fishing. While many simply joined their husbands in the family business, for those who waded out on their own, it wasn’t an easy transition.

Pizzo, who is married with two children, says her friends and family did not support her new career. Consequently, she had to face the sometimes harsh elements of the daily, year-round profession and the physical strain of handling heavy tools alone.

Despite the challenges, Pizzo says she stepped into her fishing boots every day and never asked for help. “[Townspeople] used to tell me, ‘you’re a woman, you don’t have the same strength of a man for this job,’” she remembers. “It took years, but I think they are finally realizing we are no less capable [than] our male counterparts.”

Home facade with a mural of a compass and a sun and moon
Murals on a house in Scardovari village depict a compass rose and the sun and moon.
Young woman on a boat wearing orange work gloves looking out to the water
Alessia Turri looks out at the delta waters while working with her grandmother in Goro on March 31, 2021. Many young people like Alessia join the fishing industry shortly after finishing high school.
Woman standing in water pulling a rope to move a boat
Oscarina Soncin pulls her fishing boat, so can adjust its location without turning on the engine. Fishing on the delta is a physically demanding job.

Inspired by Pizzo and other women, Oscarina Soncin took up a rasca years ago. The 53-year-old says that for her the career change wasn’t a matter of ideology, but of devotion to the land. “I don’t feel like a feminist or disrupter,” she says. “What I love about this job is the constant proximity to nature and having a front-row view on the Po waters every single morning.”

More visitors are becoming enchanted with this view, too. In recent years, locals have seen an uptick in tourists, boosted last year by pandemic travelers looking for outdoor diversions within the country. Tour operators take the opportunity to encourage slow and sustainable tourism practices.

For instance, Delta Po Experience offers outings in electric boats and on hydrobikes, as well as bird-watching walks along riverbanks. During these guided excursions, visitors learn about the reserve’s widely varying habitats and species, such as red deer, eels, and amphibians.

“We try to stress the importance of the environmental history of the Po, the human impact, and how communities like these aquafarmers are trying to preserve the waters,” says Sandro Vidali, one of the guides.

A gray mud cloud
A rasca raked across the lagoon floor leaves mud clouds in its wake.
Oscarina Soncin dresses for work at Giovanna Pizzo’s house in Porto Tolle, on Feb. 15, 2021. Soncin says Pizzo inspired her to start fishing and now considers Pizzo her mentor. The women have been fishing together for 20 years, driving from Pizzo’s house to the delta every day at 4:30 a.m.
Blue and green water boots hanging
Wading boots hang in Giovanna Pizzo’s home. Delta aquafarmers wear long boots to wade in the shallow waters.
Stacked sorting bins resting on a metal machine on a boat
Empty clam baskets balance atop a metal separating bin. Small clams are tossed back into the water, while larger clams are placed in sacks ready for delivery to Conzorzio, a distributor.
Silhouette of women fueling a boat at surise
Dawn breaks on the horizon of the Po Delta as Soncin and Pizzo fuel their boat.

(Here’s how locals are preserving Italy’s famed wildflower bloom.)

During their encounters with visitors, Pizzo and Soncin say they talk about the low-environmental impact methods they use to harvest their catch. The women say connecting with visitors is one way to give back to the land that has given them, not just a livelihood, but a lifelong passion.

“We never miss a workday, not because we are workaholics, but because we love spending time immersed in this nature,” says Soncin. “Whenever a boat of tourists passes by, we try to transfer that feeling of freedom it brings us to stay in the sunrise serenity of the Po Delta.”

Stefania D’Ignoti is a writer based in Italy. Follow her travels on Twitter.

Chiara Negrello is a photojournalist based in Florence, Italy. Her work focuses on everyday life as a lens to explore social issues. Follow her on Instagram.

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