Two shores, one sea: Apulia and Croatia united by the future of pescatourism
10/06/2026
The Adriatic is not a border that separates, but a blue bridge that has connected cultures, histories, and extraordinary seafaring traditions for centuries. Looking at its two shores, Apulia and Croatia share a deep, visceral bond with the sea. On one side, the Apulian coastline stretches over 800 kilometers, telling the story of a millennial artisanal fishing culture that is now opening up to experiential tourism. On the other side, Croatia boasts over a thousand islands, rich rivers, and an international reputation that attracts fishing enthusiasts from all over the world, featuring top destinations ranging from the Elafiti Islands near Dubrovnik to major tuna fishing events in Jezera, on the island of Murter.
This shared vocation for the sea and its resources is the spark behind the PESTOUR project, funded by the Interreg Italy-Croatia programme. The goal is ambitious yet concrete: joining the forces of the Municipality of Lizzanello, the Rinascita Social Cooperative, and the City of Krk to transform this immense passion into a professional, structured model of pescatourism. Although both shores possess enormous tourism potential, Italian and Croatian commercial fishers face the exact same difficulties every day. Launching a pescatourism activity currently means dealing with an intricate web of red tape, complex vessel safety requirements, and regulatory uncertainty.
Through cross-border cooperation activities, PESTOUR is creating a platform to map these administrative obstacles in both territories. The idea is to combine the best practices already tested in Apulia and Croatia to create clear, common guidelines. In this way, the authenticity of the fisher's trade is protected and enhanced, offering a safe path to diversify the income of local operators through the Blue Economy. By uniting the strengths of both sides of the Adriatic, pescatourism can finally become an accessible and replicable opportunity, capable of ensuring marine conservation while driving the economic development of our coastal villages.