Steel blue eyes and the bushy mustache of a Gaul, Francesco Ciciriello is not a man to change his habits.
At 72 years old, 60 of them fishing with at least one sea trip every day, he continues to moor his
gozzo
– the name of the traditional local boat – in the old port of Pozzuoli.
Anchor is the right term because no more boats dock in what the locals call the waterless dock.
Along the quays, there is nothing but mud and tall grass.
Only the center of the basin can shelter a few boats without them touching the bottom.
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This historic harbor has slowly become impassable as the ground continues to rise, reducing the draft.
It even happens, like last June, that the boats can no longer go out due to lack of depth.
However, the old fisherman remains inflexible: out of loyalty, he refuses to moor at the port that the municipality has set up for fishermen 200 meters away.
Francesco Ciciriello still anchors his boat in the “waterless dock”.
Pascal Maitre
Half a million souls
City of 81,000 inhabitants 9…
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