Mystery in Sicily...

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Scuba divers who die in Sicily and other parts of Italy are often people involved in illegal transactions. They are poor people, often unskilled as divers and who use dangerous and obsolete gear (not revised tanks etc. etc.). Incidents including deadly ones are common because these people are "commercial" divers if we can say so and they spend a lot of time in the sea, but they lack the skills and equipment they need.
The most common are illegal fishermen. In Italy it's forbidden to go fishing with air tanks. The damage they do is remarkable, especially the so called "corallari" (red coral illegal fishermen) and "datterari" (date shells illegal fishermen). The picture below is an example of the damage done on the cliffs by the "datterari" who use hammers (!!!) to break the stone and pick up the date shells

dattero-mare-696x522.jpg
 
There are also cigarettes or drugs smugglers like (perhaps) in this case, generally people from poor neighbourhoods who try get some "extra cash" with illegal transactions
The mafia instead has enough money to pay for professional divers with rebreathers and professional equipment, when they smuggle drugs or on a massive scale or they search for Greek and Roman antiquities or even old WWII mines as a source of "clean" explosives not traceable for the police...
 
Scuba divers who die in Sicily and other parts of Italy are often people involved in illegal transactions. They are poor people, often unskilled as divers and who use dangerous and obsolete gear (not revised tanks etc. etc.). Incidents including deadly ones are common because these people are "commercial" divers if we can say so and they spend a lot of time in the sea, but they lack the skills and equipment they need.
The most common are illegal fishermen. In Italy it's forbidden to go fishing with air tanks. The damage they do is remarkable, especially the so called "corallari" (red coral illegal fishermen) and "datterari" (date shells illegal fishermen). The picture below is an example of the damage done on the cliffs by the "datterari" who use hammers (!!!) to break the stone and pick up the date shells

View attachment 562640
Almost all you said, sadly, is true. However "corallari" are not doing an illegal activity, it is perfectly legal to catch red coral while scuba diving, if authorised...
Il sommozzatore corallaro, un mestiere unico al mondo | Storie di Alghero
Also because the alternative way of getting red coral is by destroying the coral reef with a sort of dragged anchor, named "ingegno", followed by a net.
Currently the number of authorized "corallari" is less than 15 in Sardinia, operating in the "Coral Coast" north of Alghero (Capo Caccia, one of my preferred diving sites). Here the report of one of them sadly passing away while working:
Annega il portavoce dei corallari
Pls. use Google Translate if you do not understand Italian.
 
Scuba divers who die in Sicily and other parts of Italy are often people involved in illegal transactions. They are poor people, often unskilled as divers and who use dangerous and obsolete gear (not revised tanks etc. etc.). Incidents including deadly ones are common because these people are "commercial" divers if we can say so and they spend a lot of time in the sea, but they lack the skills and equipment they need.
The most common are illegal fishermen. In Italy it's forbidden to go fishing with air tanks. The damage they do is remarkable, especially the so called "corallari" (red coral illegal fishermen) and "datterari" (date shells illegal fishermen). The picture below is an example of the damage done on the cliffs by the "datterari" who use hammers (!!!) to break the stone and pick up the date shells

View attachment 562640

:(:mad:
 
Almost all you said, sadly, is true. However "corallari" are not doing an illegal activity, it is perfectly legal to catch red coral while scuba diving, if authorised...
.

That’s true. It’s more or less the difference between those who go hunting for deers with a licence, and the poachers

Anyway honestly I think that the Italian authorities do their job and enforce the law quite strictly, as far as I noticed, especially in marine reserves
 
Thanks for the input folks!


(I've being missing from Italy for too long now...)
 

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