“Casa dei Pesci” is an association formed by people who are passionate about the sea and nature, convinced of the importance of safeguarding and preserving our ecosystem for future generations.
We currently have about 60 members, who voluntarily contribute to the association’s purposes according to their abilities and availability.
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“Casa dei Pesci – ETS” Association was founded in 2012 as a non-profit organization with the aim of safeguarding the marine environment and promoting fish repopulation, continuing the public interventions started already in 2007 by the Province of Grosseto to defend the seabed of the Maremma coast. The winning idea was to place alongside the concrete elements, the most environmentally friendly marble blocks donated by the Michelangelo Quarries in Carrara, which were voluntarily sculpted by well-known Italian and foreign artists and placed in the sea to safeguard posidonia and shelter fish fauna.
From 2015 to 2023, 44 sculptures were placed on the seabed, creating a veritable underwater museum. The project, which started in Talamone, wants to expand to other areas of the Maremma coastline, so as to spread, with new sculptures, the message about the importance of the seabed that the House of Fishes wants to bring to public opinion, and to create, with the laying of specially made blocks, new areas of fish restocking.
2012
Year of birth of the association
44
sculptures placed on the seabed
60+
associates
Chi fa parte
DEL NOSTRO TEAM
Giovanni Contardi
Manager with long experience in managing complex projects in public and private environments
President
Legal representation
Coordination and management of the association’s activities
Letizia Marsili
Professor of ecology at the University of Siena
Counselor
Scientific support
Loriano Valentini
Former mayor of Grosseto, councilor of the Region of Tuscany and former president of the Grosseto Cultura Foundation
Counselor
Relations with public institutions and local authorities
Giuseppe Anselmi
Passionate naturalist, former park ranger at Maremma Park.
Counselor
Environmental teaching and education
Piergiorgio Stipa
Marine biologist, diver, expert in fisheries, aquaculture and environmental protection
Counselor
Supporting maritime and underwater operations
But none of this would have been possible without
Paolo the Fisherman
Inspirer and co-founder of the House of Pisces
Paolo Fanciulli, artisanal fisherman and environmental guide.
Since he was 20 years old, he has been leading a battle to defend the land where he grew up: the Uccellina Mountains and the sea of Talamone, Tuscany. To defend the sea from illegal fishing he has risked his life more than once. Today he raises awareness among tourists and students in schools about the risks the blue planet is facing and explains what each of us can do for the sea and the environment. He is also credited with the nationwide creation of the Fishing Tourism formula, which allows tourists to participate in a fishing trip to see the techniques of sustainable fishing without impacting the marine environment, and to learn the secrets of the sea and how to respect it. For decades Paolo has made it a mission to spread the culture of the sea, including through Fishing Tourism, the formula that allows people to eat at the fisherman’s home what they have just pulled up in their nets. Paolo’s House, like the fishing boat Sirena, is a place of divulgation. In Maremma, and beyond, Paolo Fanciulli has become a symbol of nature preservation. His fame has grown, and all the world’s major media, from the United States to Germany and Japan, have covered him and continue to do so.
His story was told by Ilaria De Bernardis and Marco Santarelli in the book Entitled La Casa dei Pesci, which can be purchased at the Talamone newsstand, Patagonia stores in Rome or on the Internet.