A project to fatten live bluefin tuna in sea cages off Cetara, on the Amalfi Coast, has prompted calls for published permits, precise coordinates and full environmental review.
According to Positano News, the initiative is promoted by a tuna producers' organisation and supported by Coldiretti Pesca, with the municipality of Cetara described as favourable to the project. Corriere della Sera has also reported the proposal as a bluefin-tuna fattening facility off Cetara.
Preliminary marine monitoring has been reported, including buoys placed to collect biological and current data, according to Positano News and Corriere della Sera. The project has been described as potentially using pellet feed rather than frozen fish.
Opposition has come from representatives in Vietri sul Mare, according to Salerno Sera. They cite possible effects from uneaten feed, waste and altered seabed conditions on the marine environment and neighbouring stretches of coast, and have requested rigorous environmental assessment and institutional transparency.
The reported project is understood to fall below the 50,000-square-metre threshold cited in the coverage for mandatory environmental-impact assessment. Opponents argue that the area's environmental and landscape sensitivity warrants deeper review regardless of that threshold.
The proposal has revived memories of an earlier cage-farming dispute in the area, when cages were reportedly removed after local mobilisation.
The precise location, final concession area, number of cages, production capacity and operating timetable have not been publicly established. It is also unclear whether the project has received a final maritime concession or environmental authorisation, or whether a formal impact-assessment process or public consultation has begun.
