Venetian Lagoon Mussel Farming Between Tradition and Innovation

Abstract

In Venetian lagoon, mussels as a food, together with technical innovations and new knowledge for their exploitation, are a recent discovery. In the past, the lagoon’s fishers considered them inedible. The first mussel farming was launched in 1939 and mussels began a new process of rehabilitation. It is the beginning of a new relationship. Mussels turn themselves into delicate animals that need care and fishers develop new interactions with the other non-human components of the environment. A mutual relationship (or inter-agentivity) is created between mussel farmers and mussels, and it brings undeniable advantages to both species.

Keywords

• Anthropomorphism. Environmental knowledge. Food acculturation. Inter-agentivity. Knowledge innovation. Local ecological knowledge. Multispecies relations. Mussel-farming. Popular animal’s classification. Venetian lagoon