General Information

Landing database - General information

The database contains the official monthly statistics of fish and seafood catches landed at the Chioggia Fish Market. Data go back to 1945, are expressed as tonnes of landings and are grouped into categories that may include one or more species according to their registration at the Fish Market. Each category contains a description of the species included (common, dialect, and scientific names) and information about the data. This information is updated each year.
In 1997, registration procedures of fish products changed. In particular, the number of categories increased by dividing some of those with many species into smaller ones. Two different databases have been created to assess the trend of fish products on a long-term scale without losing the more detailed information of recent years:

  • 1945 - today: the 1997 data were grouped in the same categories as those prior to 1997, and species that had not been registered before 1997 or were grouped in mixed categories ("Fish mix") were kept separate.
  • 1997 - today: data were collected in the present registration categories.

Users may select the categories they want to check, the type of data (monthly, annual, individual months) and the period. Categories may be selected either by their name or by the name of one of the species they contain, in which case the search may be made by their common, dialect or scientific names.
Data may be visualised in graph form as:

  • line graphs showing the trend of the individual categories selected;
  • histograms showing the cumulative trend of the selected categories.

Graphs may also contain the total landing.
Data may be downloaded: to this end, to assess the use being made of this database, users must provide their name, institution they belong to, and purpose of their search. Each category contains a table describing the species registered in that category, their common and dialect names, the name of the category as registered at the Chioggia Fish Market, and links to scientific databases on the species. There are also additional information on the category and photos of the species. Photos by E. Riginella, M. Maffi, F. Chiaromonte e M. Munari. Web pages use also FLOT graphics libraries.

 

Purpose and users

This database aims at providing precious historical information on fish and seafood products of the northern Adriatic to different types of users: fish biologists, fishermen, resource management administrators, students and citizens. The analysis of fishing data by researchers may provide useful information about the biodiversity changes occurring today and the role played by man. Examination of temporal changes in species may help in identifying management strategies aimed at contrasting the increasing exploitation of resources and their consequent impoverishment.
This information may also be used by fishermen to compare their experience with the historical and general landing trends by Chioggia vessels.
Lastly, since our sense of duty towards environmental conservation derives from knowledge, we hope that this database will also be used by young people wishing to learn about their sea and biological resources.

 

Funding

This database is part of the Clodia Project: for the sustainable development of coastal environments, presented by the Department of Biology of the University of Padua in Chioggia, supported by the City of Chioggia and Legapesca, and funded by the Veneto region in accordance with the Regional Law no. 15/2007.

 

Collaborators

The database was created thanks to the personnel of the Chioggia Fishing Port who supplied archived data.
Many people have collaborated to this project by providing useful information: Gabriele Baldin (Chioggia Fish Market), Alberto Barausse (Department of Engineering Chemical Processes, University of Padua), Monica Bressan (Department of Biology, University of Padua), Tomaso Fortibuoni (ISPRA Chioggia), Gabriella Marin (Department of Biology, University of Padua) and Sasa Raicevich (ISPRA Chioggia).

 

Designers

The database was designed by Carlotta Mazzoldi, Emilio Riginella and Andrea Sambo (Department of Biology, University of Padua).

 

How to quote the database

Clodia database, 2017. Database of Fishery Data from Chioggia, Northern Adriatic Sea.
 

For communications, information and comments, please write to: database.chioggia@unipd.it

Technical information on the construction of the database

The fish and seafood products sold at the Chioggia Fish Market were recorded on paper until 1996. Since 1997, they have been recorded on electronic spreadsheets. The products sold at the Market are divided into local, national and export products.
This database contains information on locally fished and farmed products only, coming from both the sea and the Lagoon of Venice.
In constructing the database, uploading of data was designed in a particular way. The fish and seafood catches are listed with a general category name, which is not necessarily the same as their registration name at the Fish Market, due to the fact that their name may change over the years and is often the dialect name of the species.
Category names are in the singular form if they contain only one species, and in the plural if they include several species.
If the same fish is registered with different names according to its size (e.g., small and large seabasses), the two categories have been grouped in one. The most common Chioggia dialect names are indicated for each species. However, these names may change from port to port, and sometimes one name may include many species.
Species division into categories is based on information: a)  available at the Fish Market; b) contained in publications about landings by Chioggia vessels; c) obtained by samplings carried out at the Fish Market and during fishing vessel trips; d) kindly provided by the researchers of the Department of Biology and by ISPRA (Superior Institute for Environmental Research and Protection). Although we strove to indicate all the species that may have been included in the different categories over the years, old data may refer to now rare or no longer fished species.
 

The species contained in fish mix categories ("Broeto" (fish soup), "Frittura" (fried fish), "Tresse" (driftnets), "Misto pesce" (fish mix), "Misto pesce d'acqua dolce" (freshwater fish mix) are not listed, as they might have changed considerably over the years.

 

All data were checked against annual statistics, and when discrepancies emerged, paper documents were checked once again for clerical and typing errors. Editing made to individual categories is found in the descriptive tables associated with the same category. The information of this database only refers to products officially registered at the Fish Market, not the total amount of fish catches landed by Chioggia vessels. Part of the catches may be sold without ever reaching the Market. Products sold on different markets are indicated in the description of the category.

 

Use of the database

Please quote reference to the database as shown in the homepage and, if papers are published using these data, inform the managers of the database.