Tuscany’s fisherwomen

Five women recently established Italy’s first cooperative of female fishers. Located in the Tuscan town of Carrara, the cooperative sells the women’s daily catch in the shop Bio e Mare, which it also runs. The women-three Italians, one Bulgarian and one Columbian-‘go to the open sea, alone, with a new fishing boat,’ said Joseph Maffei, president of Carrara’s historic fishing co-op, the Mistral Marina di Carrara. ‘They are the first all-female crew in our national marina,’ added Maffei, ‘and they take care of the whole process, from fishing at sea to the processing and sale of the fish; everything is done organically.’