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Illegal Trawlers Are No Match for Undersea Sculptures
Trailing weighted nets across the seabed wrecks fish stocks and kills carbon-capturing seagrasses—but one fisherman’s sculpture project has turned the tide.
While it’s not known exactly how much Posidonia oceanica grows in the Mediterranean, the most recent estimates by Pergent-Martini and her colleagues—extrapolated using a mixture of drone imagery, aerial photography, and side-scan sonar—suggest it covers around 2.3 million hectares of seabed: an area the size of Wales. The previous night’s catch—amberjack, dolphin fish, some red snapper—is being grilled fresh off the boat, with a simple mix of salt and rosemary, for the 40 guests who have paid to join the fundraiser and enjoy a delicious three-course meal in the process. Although ably assisted by his wife in the kitchen, his daughter at the tables, and a couple of friends, Fanciulli still seems to be doing everything—flipping the fish, pouring the wine, and chatting with his guests about his next initiative: a home for octopuses, made up of a gallery of hand-painted amphora—narrow Roman jars with handles and pointed bottoms.
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