Enhancing clam production in Italy
Sacca di Goro, a lagoon district in Italy is an area known for its clam production, a main source of revenue in the local economy. The DITTY project has filled a vast database with GIS (Geographic information systems) maps for land use, land cover and hydrology of the watershed and for the Sacca di Goro lagoon. Under the auspices of the project, the environmental and economic systems related to clam farming in the Sacca di Goro were described and evaluated using qualitative analysis. Additionally a network analysis model on nitrogen cycling in the area was designed taking into account various techniques of ecological flow networks. Biochemical models were developed and tested. Many factors were taken into account accordingly, such as benthic vegetation, sedimentary fluxes, nutrient, phytoplankton, zooplankton and bacteria. Finally scenarios were developed and measured according to the primary economic activities in the watershed-lagoon system. The resulting information was acknowledged and considered by decision makers and end-users. Main options that were derived involved the further development of clam farming in the lagoon or in the adjacent sea. The Sacca di Goro was then included in the LaguNet network (http://www.dsa.unipr.it/lagunet) which is an Italian network for ecological research examining coastal lagoon ecology.
