Seafood abroad: The Rialto Market, Venice

The location of the Venice (Google Maps)

The Rialto market in Venice is bustling with life, and the fish market is no exception. Fresh fish lines the stalls with the smells and colours of the sea. Such interesting varieties of seafood on offer for locals to buy at reasonable prices.

                           

                           

                           

                           

A Venetian speciality is cuttlefish ink spaghetti (see photo below), this delicious dish is local and sustainable in Italy. Cuttlefish are a mollusc similar to squid or octopus and can be cooked in similar ways. They are abundant in UK waters especially of the South west coast. MCS rates them as 3 for sustainability, so it is ok to eat occasionally, but many of the cuttlefish fisheries are still unassessed, so have no rating yet (see post on the MCS Good Fish Guide). 

Venetian speciality: Cuttlefish ink spaghetti

                       

When Anyfin is Possible visited Brixham fish market in January, we saw crates and crates full of cuttlefish caught off the south coast that were being exported to Italy and Spain as there was no market for them in the UK. If we could start eating these molluscs then there would be no need to export them, cutting down on the carbon used for export, and providing us with a cheap and delicious seafood. For instance, looking back at our visit to Brixham Fish Market in January; Barry Young (Chief Auctioneer) showed us the huge amount of cuttlefish being brought to the market by fishermen every day and noted the huge proportion of it sent to other European countries, for instance, Spain and Italy.