NEWS

Exactly one year has passed since we inaugurated the mural by the artist Davide Smake Nuzzi, at ITS L. Montini in Campobasso. The power of art, which transforms spaces and minds.

Yesterday’s intense day ended with the sowing, through the cocooning technique, of Oratino eggs in various parts of the Biferno basin. Mimmo D’Alise and Alberto Di Nonno – FIPSAS Campobasso – were with us and we thank them for their support, together with CIPM Molise.

What a beautiful morning of dissemination with the children of the primary classes of “D. Alighieri” by Ripamolisani! With us, at our hatchery in Bivaro, also the mayor of Oratino Loredana Latessa, the president of Legambiente Molise Andrea De Marco and a large representation of Fipsas Campobasso.

While we are in the hatchery with the children, at the link today’s episode of Buongiorno Regione Molise with the amazing report that Matteo Bosco Bortolaso dedicated to our project.

Today in Oratino, while we were preparing the hatchery for tomorrow’s event, the Rai3 Molise crew joined us. Matteo Bosco Bortolaso has created a report on our project which will be broadcast tomorrow morning on Buongiorno Regione Molise: don’t miss it!

The activation and care of our hatcheries in this after-LIFE phase would not be possible without the truly precious help of people like Arianna Penta and Cristian Caruso. Thank you guys!

From next week we will start with the first #NatSalMo sowings of this season. We start from the Biferno river basin with the eggs incubated in Bivaro, in the municipality of Oratino. To attend our “cocooning” on Thursday 14 March we will also have with us some pupils from the primary school of the “D.…

Today, March 3, 2024, #WorldWildLife Day is celebrated, the world day dedicated to wildlife. This year’s theme is the connection between people and the planet through the use of technology and innovation. Among the eight pilot experiences recounted in the report “Wild nature at risk in Italy”, published by Legambiente, there is also the article…

Even in the Oratino hatchery everything is under control, thanks to the group of Professor Iaffaldano from the DIAAA – Unimol.

Everything is going well at the Rocchetta a Volturno hatchery thanks to the help of Cristian Caruso.  

Last passage on the Volturno this morning: with both our hatcheries activated, now all we have to do is wait for the results of the fertilizations.

  Samplings and fertilizations today on the Biferno: Bruno D’Amicis, Wildlife Photographer, also witnessed our actions in the field.  

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Food – Unimol (DIAAA), where – as part of our project – the first cryobank in Europe of Mediterranean trout semen was established and is operational, is actively committed to promoting and supporting the activities of research conducted by international doctoral students through the Erasmus programme.

Semen sampling from adults in Biferno.

What a morning today on the Biferno river! A first roundup of photos of the actions carried out this morning in Bojano, thanks also to the invaluable help of Cristian Caruso.

Today was a day of monitoring on some sections of the Volturno tributaries where, in recent years, we had carried out eradication and sowing actions with cocooning. In addition to a high number of 2+ individuals, we found many 0+ fry, i.e. those produced in the first reproduction of 2-year-old primiparous fish. And tomorrow we…

Natsalmo protocol for cryopreservation of Mediterranean trout semen at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Food – Unimol.

Today on the Rio Caprionero some students from the Unimol Agricultural Sciences Aquaculture course joined us for a field exercise. Other Mediterranean trout individuals were sampled thanks also to the invaluable help of Cristian Caruso, always very helpful and capable.

This morning on San Nazzaro the NatSalMo activities for the capture of Mediterranean trout broodstock restarted for the collection of the semen that will implement the doses of the cryobank.

Antonio Nicoletti, National Manager of Protected Areas and Biodiversity of Legambiente, presented our project at the XII National Table of River Contracts, held between yesterday and today in Naples.

The update of the IUCN Red List presented last Monday at COP28 in Dubai contains the first complete assessment of the world’s freshwater fish species: to date 𝗼𝗹𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗶 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮 𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗼 𝗱𝗶 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘇𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲.

In our project the support of the fishermen was of fundamental importance, their help invaluable. Even today they are our “eye” on the rivers: thanks to Michele Castaldi (FIPSAS Isernia) and Giovanni Peluso (Associazione Amici del Volturno) for these beautiful photos “live” from the Volturno.

This morning, at around 10.25am, an excellent report edited by Cristina Petrucci on the technical innovations of our project was broadcast on SpazioLibero, on the national Rai3. Filmed last March, on the occasion of the final event, the report illustrates the fundamental actions of LIFE NatsalMo through interviews with the protagonists: Nicolaia Iaffaldano, Unimol, Project…

The Regional Assembly of the National Table of River Contracts has just concluded in Campobasso, convened to take stock of the current situation in Molise and to set out the future objectives of sustainable local development. Speaking for NatSalMo were Nicolaia Iaffaldano, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Food – Unimol, Andrea De Marco, President of…

The seminar on the management of freshwater fish fauna organized in Ceraso attracted a large audience of enthusiasts, sector experts and interested citizens. We are grateful to Regione Campania and Fipsas Salerno for inviting us and to Pierpaolo Gibertoni for his detailed presentation of our project.

The dissemination of the innovative techniques and excellent results obtained from our project continues on Friday 29 September with the seminar on the management of freshwater fish fauna organized in Ceraso (SA), at the Cilento National Park.

Today in Prague the report on the NatSalMo cryobank was welcomed with great interest by all the participants in the XVII European Congress of Ichthyology. Furthermore, the European Commission complimented Nicolaia Iaffaldano for the high degree of technical innovation and the concrete possibilities of replicability in other contexts.

Some photos from last Saturday’s event in Pontremoli. Thank you all!

The salient phases of the NatSalMo protocol of cryopreservation of native trout sperm in a video pill. Thanks to this innovative technique, the flagship of our project, we are able to preserve the precious genetic resources of these magnificent creatures, contributing to their protection and safeguarding the aquatic ecosystem.

We are off to a great start with the dissemination events: next Saturday 26 August in Pontremoli we will also talk about our project as a virtuous example of protection and conservation of the native trout.

To receive the paper copy, we will have to wait for autumn, when we will start promoting and distributing them in person, but in the meantime our Guidelines are available here:

An exciting adventure in river trekking under the banner of environmental education by NatSalMo the one conducted today by Pierpaolo Gibertoni – Mediterranean Trout Research Group – on the Rio Biola, in the Reggio Apennines. With a large group of 30 boys aged between 7 and 12, Pier explored the fascinating themes of life in…

The dissemination of our project also continues in schools: two meetings in Bojano, at the IISS G. Lombardo Radice, as part of the “River Requalification” module. Let’s go back to August with a swim in the river!

Our project was invited to participate in the final event of the Sharesalmo Project, which dealt with integrated fish management for the conservation of native salmonids and the fight against invasive species. On June 8th you can follow the live streaming of the speeches on our Facebook page. Here is the schedule:

The NatSalMo delegation made up of the technical-scientific staff of MTRG and UniMol, participated yesterday – in the operational headquarters of the Maiella Park in Sulmona – in the first round table for the presentation by Ispra of the guidelines of the LIFE STREAMS project. During the event, the Project Manager Nicolaia Iaffaldano expressed gratitude…

With the cocooning in Caprionero last week, sowing in the Volturno basin ended for this year (with a yield, among other things, close to 100%). We remind you that the project did not include reproductions in its final year, but thanks to the commitment of all our technical-scientific staff, we were able to carry out…

From today, the project Layman’s Report is available on our website, in the “Documents” section, from where it can be downloaded. It is a final document for dissemination purposes, in which the objectives and actions of the project are briefly reviewed and the results obtained are described: therefore not a technical document, but a story…

And also the last activity of our project endedì: thanks to the researchers of Zavod za ribištvo Slovenije for the very warm welcome and for the interest shown. We look forward to seeing you in Molise to continue the fruitful discussion!  

Transferability and dissemination for our project again, this time in Slovenia.Stay tuned!

Today, precisely on the occasion of the beginning of spring, an artistic mural dedicated to the native Molise trout was inaugurated on the internal perimeter wall of the John Paul II primary school of the Istituto Comprensivo Statale Leopoldo Montini. The work was created by Davide Smake Nuzzi, a young local artist, member of the…

In the meantime, this batch of embryonated Mediterranean trout eggs is approaching hatching with a yield very close to 100%…

Our wonderful project comes to an end. They have been almost five years of hard work, not without critical points, which the whole group has faced head-on without ever sparing itself. Effort yes, but also a lot of passion and determination to reach and (why not?) exceed the required objectives. The results obtained are really…

Tomorrow we will be in Treviso, guests of the local Fipsas at the Silea Fishing Museum, for a day dedicated to the transferability and dissemination of our project.

A success of attendance and subscriptions today at the EX Gil in Campobasso, where the President of the Molise Region Donato Toma, the Rector of the University of Molise Luca Brunese, the National President of Legambiente Stefano Ciafani, Giuseppe Dodaro of the CIRF Board of Directors, the Prof. Nicolaia Iaffaldano of the AAA UniMol Department and…

Thursday 23 February at 9.30 (registration present at 9.00) in Campobasso, the Molise Region, Legambiente, the University of Molise and CIRF present the River Contracts which will be signed, within the European project Life NatSalMo, by local administrators and stakeholders who participated in the open forums created during the project, thus allowing the adoption of…

Tomorrow in Bojano, at Palazzo Colagrosso in Piazza della Vittoria, the last Participatory Workshop organized as part of the project action D2 will kick off starting at 3:00 pm, aimed at monitoring the socio-economic impact of the activities implemented during the project itself. In the socio-economic surveys carried out in the field, the active participation of…

Today, in Bojano, we caught and squeezed the last wonderful trout of the season!

The NatSalMo environmental education activities carried out by Legambiente Onlus in Molise schools have come to an end. We thank the numerous school classes that welcomed us and who enthusiastically participated in the discussion on the topics of biodiversity, the river ecosystem, the conservation of species and in particular the Mediterranean trout. A special thanks…

To monitor the socio-economic impact of our project in the communities and territories of reference, we have created an anonymous and free questionnaire, which we invite you to fill out. You can find it at the following link: https://forms.gle/tvbK5hXQ76Ec92WSA

The genetic code transmitted by DNA is made up of the combination of building blocks, the nucleotides, which are of only four types (A, T, C, G). Replacing even one of these bricks in the sequence can lead to dramatic results, such as a different color, a gene malfunction, the acquisition of a new characteristic…

Yesterday the technical-scientific staff of the project was on the Biferno for further sampling. Here are the pictures:

What were Federico Quaranta’s “Il Provinciale” troupe doing together with Stefano Esposito at the Rocchetta hatchery last December? To find out (and it’s really worth it…) tune in to Rai1 on Saturday 21 January at 11.25 am (preview) and on RAI2 on Sunday 22 January at 2 pm (full version with extra content). We are waiting…

Today in Bojano, for the first in situ fertilization of the Biferno breeding season with cryobank seed.

Yesterday we obtained about 200 eggs from a small female of the Caprionero, which we divided into aliquots and fertilized with the sperm of 4 males from the cryobank.  

During our outings in the Volturno, we intercepted splendid adult individuals of Mediterranean trout.

Andrea de Marco, President of Legambiente Molise APS, interviewed by TGR Molise on the River Contracts, tools of understanding between institutions and associations for the protection of endangered species, but also for the implementation of sustainable interventions on the territory. https://www.rainews.it/tgr/molise/video/2022/12/contratti-di-fiume-la-strada-per-la-tutela-della-biodiversit-1968baaf-f619-4b8c-b2fe-322d9c615138.html

Let’s start the new year well with this wonderful male photographed by Stefano Esposito (MTRG) looking for reproducers in Carpinone.

Today the Rocchetta a Volturno hatchery hosted the didactic visit of the Aquaculture course held by Prof. Nicolaia Iaffaldano of the UniMol Department of Agriculture, Environment and Food. During the day, the students were able to witness live all the phases of the cryopreservation protocol.  

On Sunday 18 December 2022, our Stefano Esposito (Mediterranean Trout Research Group) also participated in the sixth edition of the winter contest “The flies of the Volturno” organized by “Amici del Volturno e dei sue tributari”, invited to illustrate the actions and results of the our project. Between LIFE NatSalMo and the Volturno fishermen, in fact,…

Even if today is Sunday, the NatSalMo technical-scientific staff is still at work on the Volturno River for the first catches of Mediterranean trout spawners. A little while ago, at “I 25 archi”, a splendid specimen of mature female allowed us to obtain 4 quotas of eggs which were fertilized in situ with the fresh semen…

On 7 December in Ripalimosani at the Dante Alighieri Comprehensive Institute, while on 13th in Campobasso with the children of the V B: thus the environmental education activities dedicated to Molise students restarted.

Here it is finally revealed the amazing photo of Valeria Scrilatti, exhibited at MAXXI, which immortalizes our cryobank! Contrasto’s collective exhibition “Climate Change Italy: from the drought crisis to the melting of glaciers, loss of biodiversity, energy communities and circular economy”, you can admire it Rome until 8 January.

Yesterday our technical-scientific staff went to the Volturno, near Monteroduni, for a direct check of the first phase of the incipient reproductive season and for a semen sample to be genotyped.

A few years ago, just in the months in which we were writing the LIFE NatSalMo project, an illuminating article appeared on the pages of the magazine “The Biologist” on the importance of cryobanks in the conservation of species, written by William Holt, professor at the University of Sheffield and honorary researcher in Conservation Biology for the survival of species of the prestigious Smithsonian Institution. Holt remembered when, in…

One of the photos taken this summer by the photographer Valeria Scrilatti (Contrasto agency) about the actions and places of our project has been selected to be included in the collective photographic exhibition “Climate Change Italy: from the drought crisis to the melting of glaciers, loss of biodiversity , energy communities and circular economy” which…

The sixth Open Forum NatSalMo will take place on 28 and 29 November: we are truly on the finishing straight! We look forward to seeing you in Oratino on 28th and in Rocchetta on 29th November, starting at 4pm.

With the last recent rains and with the lowering of temperatures, the autumn season finally seems to have come alive in Molise. In the depths of the Volturno and its tributaries, the first trout females begin to be seen sporadically, intent on moving the gravel to build their own nest, in which in due course…

When repopulating actions are carried out, we must try to avoid as much as possible the domestication of the animals that have to return to the river: Pierpaolo Gibertoni, ichthyologist veterinarian of the partner MTRG (Mediterranean Trout Research Group) explains it well in this video, who talks to us about rusticity and wildness maintained thanks…

These beautiful trout about two and a half years old are the “daughters” of our sowing in the lateral tributaries of the Biferno basin, those coming from the Matese. We are monitoring their populations that have gone further upstream by about a kilometer compared to our cocooning.

Our fifth Open Forum also closed yesterday evening, with a truly positive outcome. The two meetings, carried out directly in the territories of the two basins concerned, met with excellent participation and served to continue the dialogue with the stakeholders. For both the Volturno and the Biferno the needs and proposals are multiple and, working…

The second Natsalmo Focus Group, the one dedicated to the Volturno basin, took place on 17 October 2022 at the Pignatelli castle in Monteroduni. This meeting was also very well attended, managing to involve the main categories of stakeholders present in the 9 municipalities of the Volturno basin (Castel San Vincenzo, Rocchetta a Volturno, Colli…

We have reached the fifth appointment with the NatsalMo Open Forum, which this time will take place in two different places on two contiguous dates: October 25 in Bojano and October 26 in Venafro, both starting at 4.00 pm. We continue together in the dialogue with the stakeholders, to proceed towards the identification of the…

Last 12 October at the Albergo Diffuso “La Piana dei Mulini” in Colle d’Anchise (CB), the first of the two Focus Groups dedicated to the evaluation of the socio-economic impact of our project on the territory of the two reference river basins (action D2). The meeting provided for the active participation of the main categories…

At the eighth IWBFG (International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes) congress held in Gdansk – Poland from 20 to 23 September, Prof. Nicolaia Iaffaldano and Dr. Giusy Rusco presented orally the related preliminary results about the efficacy of the ovarian fluid on the performance of the spermatozoa of the native populations of Mediterranean…

How do the children of the Biferno breeders become if they are raised in a high-altitude Matese stream, with cold and difficult winters interspersed with summers characterized by a water crisis? Only red point and intense zebra stripes. They almost resemble the trout that inhabit the sides of the Volturno, although they are only distant…

Our Environmental Education Team offers all primary and middle school teachers in Molise and their students an educational path to discover the biodiversity of the Molise area, rich in plant endemisms and protected and rare animal species such as the Mediterranean trout and the Otter. Teachers and students will thus have the opportunity to participate…

After a short summer break, our quantitative monitoring and genetic analyzes in the Biferno river basin start again, this year a little earlier than usual, to allow us to have the results before March, the month in which the NatSalMo project will reach its end. term. Soon, therefore, we will have the results in terms…

Today Stefano Esposito (MTRG), together with some representatives of Fipsas Isernia, carried out a monitoring action on part of the sites affected by the NatSalMo sowing this winter. In particular, the group went to the San Nazzaro river, a direct tributary of the Volturno. In the monitored sites there are essentially two sizes of fry,…

The path towards the signing of the Biferno and Alto Volturno River Contracts enters a crucial phase. In fact, in the fourth NatSalMo Open Forum the participants will proceed to the concerted identification of the specific objectives that will guide the future management of the two river basins. In addition, the lines of action that…

What happened in the Volturno and in the Biferno in the last winter season 2021/2022 necessarily leads us to think that there is a sixth sense, a perception by trout – as well as by other animals – regarding seasonality and meteorology. In detail: Molise trout – which normally migrate for reproductive purposes in the…

Legambiente, partner of our project, on 28 May organized the annual event “Clean Up the World” at the free beach of Campomarino (CB) together with 75 students from the sixth grade of the Istituto Omnicomprensivo Via Cuoco. Before starting the cleaning of the beach, the students were also presented with our project, which resulted in…

Yesterday morning 53 students from the primary school of Venafro, led by Giusi and Valeria, visited the naturalistic oasis Le Mortine. As always, there has been talk of biodiversity, the protection of habitats and the safeguarding of river species at risk of extinction. Special guest: the dog Samira!

Today, 21 May 2022, the LIFE programme turns 30. In all this time it has supported projects for environmental protection, nature conservation and actions against climate change throughout Europe, opening the way towards a more sustainable future. Our LIFE Natsalmo project would not exist without this important financial instrument of the European Union. Today Natura…

Between 13 and 14 May, more than 250 elementary and middle school students were involved in the NatsalMo educational path, to discover the river biodiversity of Biferno and Volturno. Last Friday we first went to the Sorgenti del Volturno with the pupils of the IV elementary school of the Istituto Comprensivo Don Giulio Testa, Sesto…

With the conference held this morning at the University by Prof. Nicolaia Iaffaldano, who illustrated in detail the objectives, action and results obtained so far by LIFE NatSalMo, the transferability actions of our project in Romania were concluded. As always happens when there is genuine exchange, we have given a lot, but at the same…

This morning the transferability actions in Romanian territory started and the appointment was at the Balea stream, in one of the most important Danube catchment areas in Romania. During the morning, NatSalmo’s technical-scientific team illustrated the procedures and methodologies developed by our project in Molise waters to the partnership present, represented by the Universities of…

Prof. Nicolaia Iaffaldano this morning presented our Natsalmo project at the international conference for doctoral students organized by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Food in Unimol. The International PhD student conference. Research and Innovation in Agricultural, Livestock and Food Sciences represents an opportunity for exchange and comparison between young researchers in the field of…

Natsalmo’s technical-scientific team has finally arrived in Sibiu, Romania, where in these days it will be involved in the E2 transferability actions envisaged by the project together with the Romanian partnership consisting of two universities, the “Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu” and the ” Ion Ionescu of the Brad University of Iași ”. These activities,…

We sincerely thank the local broadcaster Telemolise for having dedicated an entire episode of “Il Molisano” to our wonderful project and to Prof. Nicolaia Iaffaldano for having told it as only she can do!

How nice it is to get back to doing activities on the river all together! Our Environmental Education team last April 29 was busy at the Sorgenti del Volturno with 43 children of the three middle classes of the Istituto Comprensivo Don Giulio Testa, Sesto Campano school. A beautiful morning spent first illustrating the structures…

Competence, commitment and passion: these are the main characteristics of Natsalmo’s technical-scientific team!  

Also our NatSalMo project was yesterday in Rome, Auditorium Parco della Musica, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Gran Paradiso National Park and the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise!

Two truly exciting days of networking those just spent with LIFE Streams at Pollino. Natsalmo’s technical-scientific team, in presence and remotely, promptly illustrated all the innovative techniques that are their own, triggering a real and productive confrontation, with many ideas for future work.

In the third meeting yesterday attended by representatives of the municipalities of the two basins, of the Region, of citizens’ and environmentalist associations. Those present carried out an initial identification of the strategic objectives, highlighting valuable elements (to be protected and enhanced), potentialities and negative aspects, to be eliminated to ensure an increase in the…

The participatory process that will lead to the signing of the River Biferno and Alto Volturno Contracts continues. The Third Natsalmo Open Forum, to be held in Campobasso on 12 April, will restart from the considerations and requests that emerged in the previous meeting to jointly identify the priority objectives for the two river basins.…

The Monitoring Visit photo gallery, with the main moments of the two days:

After more than two years, the in-person monitoring visits are finally back! Today, 29 March 2022, all the NatSalMo staff – including the project monitor Noemi Spagnoletti and the project officer Sarunas Zableckis – are involved in Unimol, in Campobasso, on the first day of monitoring, the one intended to illustrate the progress of the…

An information panel on our NatSalMo project was placed at the headquarters of Unimol’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Food in Campobasso, home of the first European seed cryobank of native trout.

Yesterday the project’s facebook page received a flag of a garbage spill near the Sordo river, complete with coordinates for the discovery of the area. To report the fact, a fisher boy, who also attached some of his “catch and release” fishing videos on trout specimens, asking us if they were native or not. What…

Good news for Molise and for the protection of its inland waters: during the first days of March, the repopulation activities of the Volturno and Biferno rivers were started with new specimens of Mediterranean trout, a vulnerable species in Europe and at risk of extinction in Italy . Thanks to the life Nat.Sal.Mo project, the…

On February 25, 2022, our project finally managed to return along the river together with the school children! Thanks to the significant improvement in the pandemic situation, in fact, last Friday we organized a meeting on the Biferno with the students of two secondary schools from the comprehensive G. Barone di Baranello Institute. To illustrate…

“Enhance, Manage, Restore, Love wetlands”: this is the slogan launched by the 2022 global campaign, on the occasion of World Wetlands Day. An anniversary that is celebrated on February 2 to commemorate the anniversary of the “Convention on wetlands of international importance”, signed in Ramsar (Iran) in 1971 and signed up to now by 170…

More than positive results for the networking event organized on 18 and 19 January 2022 in the Molise area by NatSalMo with the IdroLife and Life Streams projects. IdroLIFE aims to improve the conservation status of fish and crayfish species of community interest through concrete conservation interventions on the species in the Natura 2000 sites…

As part of the Erasmus + project, Professor Yusuf Bozkurt, of the Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Department of Aquaculture in Iskenderun Technical University (Turkey), gave a lecture on 7 December entitled “The role of cryobiology in conservation of aquatic genetic resources” in UniMol, at the Agriculture, Environment and Food Department. The visiting professor…

We have started the first reproductions of the Volturno native trout. It was a December of great activity, in the field and in the university laboratories, where the freezing of the semen of the males who had already arrived at the reproductive sites and where the genetic analyzes were carried out took place. The first…

Last Saturday 18 December we were in Sesto Campano on the banks of the S. Bartolomeo stream, a tributary of the Volturno, with 43 students of state comprehensive school “Don Giulio Testa”. For that day, boys and girls were asked to feel like real researchers and to evaluate, by filling in a field card, their…

Another prestigious award for our project, this time as part of the “Paths of Water and Stone. The story of a value for the communities “.   Promoted by the Molise Museums Regional Directorate and the “Vivian Maier” Center for Photography of Campobasso, the competition was held as part of the Strategic Plan for Cultural…

The heavy snowfall that affected a large part of the Apennines on Monday 29 November – and Campobasso in particular – did not discourage the participants in the second Open Forum on river contracts. In fact, more than 50 people attended the event organized at the former GIL headquarters in Campobasso for various reasons. Municipalities,…

The first males of the Volturno are about to go up the sides for reproduction and it is time for most of the young born in spring to let themselves be carried away by the current and reach the main course where they will reach sexual maturity: the few young trouts that do not let…

The Open Forum #Natsalmo is back on Monday 29 November. In Campobasso, at the headquarters of the former GIL from 15.00 to 18.30 we will discuss in a proactive manner the River Contracts, voluntary tools for planning and strategic management of river resources, the result of a synergistic collaboration between institutions and citizens. As part…

The first heavy rains of autumn have arrived. For the Biferno trout it is time to prepare for the ascent to the breeding sites. In a few weeks the gravel groves of Rio Santa Maria will host the first spawns of reproducers who face journeys of up to tens of kilometers to reach the most…

This summer we had completed the construction of the fish passages on the Rio Caprionero (basin of the Volturno River) and on the Rio S. Maria (basin of the Biferno River). These works are fundamental to overcome the barriers that man has built in the river beds and which prevent or make it more difficult…

NatsalMo monitoring activities began in September to observe the results of the last breeding seasons. During the sampling, tissue samples were also taken to be sent to in-depth genetic analyzes such as SNPs: we need these analyzes to continue to monitor the improvements in the genetic integrity of the populations we are working on. Pending…

To disseminate the results obtained following the scientific activities carried out in the context of actions C5 and C6, during the participation in the 24th ASPA (Animal Science and Production Association) congress, held in Padua at the “Fiore di Botta” university campus, by 21 to 24 September 2021, some scientific works were presented: O150 –…

Professor Nicolaia Iaffaldano, Project Manager of our project, participated as chairperson and speaker at the online conference held in Foggia between 7 and 9 September last.   The conference offered the opportunity to present the results of our project describing the benefits of cryopreservation of the semen Iaffaldano_La crioconservazione del seme come strategia per la…

The dying fish and the numerous carcasses found in the Cavaliere river by FIPSAS in recent days represent an alarm signal for possible criticalities in the waterways of the Isernina area. It will be the task of the Isernia Zooprophylactic Institute to establish the causes of fish deaths, but it is easy to think of…

The main objective of our project is to safeguard the native trout of Molise and the habitats they inhabit, but it is still important that the results obtained are shared with the scientific community through the publication of articles in international journals. This constant activity is essential so that the model we are applying in…

We have cleaned up the breeding sites at the sources of the Biferno River from several quintals of urban waste. It was not uncommon to see trout trying to dig their nest in the gravel between a glass bottle, a can and a tire. Having freed the gravel from much of the waste has certainly…

In these hot days of midsummer, the project does not stop: in fact, the construction of the fish passage near a bridle on the Rio Santa Maria, in Bojano has just finished.   The study of the movements of native trout in the Biferno basin has shown us that large breeders need the greatest freedom…

The Caprionero stream is an important tributary of the Volturno river, where native trout usually go to reproduce. As is known, near Sant’Eusanio, it was interrupted in its continuity by a waterfall of about one meter jump and by an artificial section in reinforced concrete box without any shelter for the ascent of the fish…

Last Friday, the second NatSalMo appointment dedicated to young people was held at the Galassport sports center in Campobasso, as part of the summer camps organized by the structure’s educators. During the meeting, through the projection of images and the game, the objectives of the project were first explained, after which various issues were addressed…

The Covid-19 pandemic and the various consequent lockdowns had kept us away from schools, forcing us to completely reshape the training offer that we had planned at the beginning of the project. But we managed to do something, even if with great difficulty, and the result makes us very proud. On April 16, in fact,…

Simple Summary Mediterranean trout is one of the most threatened freshwater fish at risk of extinction. A complex pattern of climatic and anthropogenic pressures has dramatically compromised its biodiversity. In particular, the introduction of non-native trout represents one of the most important threats with negative impact on intraspecific diversity of native populations. The introgressive hybridization…

The theme of this year’s Environment Day is the “Restoration of Ecosystems”, with the aim of preventing, stopping and reversing the damage inflicted on the planet’s ecosystems, thus trying to move from the exploitation of nature to its healing. And with World Environment Day 2021, the United Nations officially launches the United Nations Decade for…

The river habitat is pure dynamism. Nothing stands still. The play of light and shadow, of dazzling reflections and shady branches, creates the dynamic background within which the trout live. And the speckling and zebra pattern of the Molise trout is not only to be read in a static way, because depending on the colors…

Agri_For_Food 2021, the scientific orientation and study initiative conceived by Unimol for the promotion of degree courses in “green sciences”, ended yesterday with the awarding of innovative ideas in the agri-food and forestry sectors, Now in its third edition, on 12 May it also hosted our project, objectives, activities, and the results of which were…

At the sources of the Biferno, among the tufts of aquatic plants, the trout dig their own beds of scrub, bringing to light the white gravel. The individuals seen in the video are mostly males manning the breeding site and fighting for the best position while waiting for the female. The female is present and…

Sometimes we go in search of reproducers through the electro-fishing. This happens, for example, in the side courses of the Volturno where it is not possible to anchor fixed capture stations due to the high risk of floods. During these activities we go both in search of marked specimens and specimens to tag, in order…

Between the end of February and the beginning of March, the eradication of alien trout and subsequent sowing of 8,000 eggs and newly hatched larvae of native Mediterranean trout took place in the upper section of the Lorda stream near the Municipality of Castelpizzuto. The Municipality of Castelpizzuto has decided to actively support our project,…

The material stored in our cryobank is always available and ready for use. It allows us to always have the semen of dozens of genotyped native males available to fertilize the eggs of the females captured in the fixed stations. In the video we are in one of the side stations of the Volturno and…

At the beginning of March we began to sow the Biferno eggs incubated in the Oratino hatchery. The first 15 nests were built on the Rio Freddo, at the sources of the Biferno di Pietre Cadute and at the sources of the Rio Santa Maria. Inside them we sowed the first 10,000 embryonated eggs. In…

Despite the pandemic and the entry of Molise into the red zone, the works to adapt the facilities of the Rocchetta a Volturno plant continue in maximum safety. In the pre-existing external tanks, partitions are being built to allow a rational use of the structures, especially with an eye to the future, when these places…

At the Rocchetta a Volturno hatchery, during the EASME monitoring visit on 11 and 12 February, we observed through a digital microscope an egg that we had fertilized in early January with the cryopreserved seed. When fertilization is successful, at a certain point of the incubation those two black points appear, which correspond to the…

The press release on the first European cryobank of Mediterranean trout seed created by Unimol thanks to LIFE NatSalMo had considerable success, not only in the traditional press (see the press review), but also in local and national news. At the link, one for all, the Tg di Dire.it, a national press:  

The cryobank of the semen proved to be an effective strategy to protect the biodiversity of some fish species and the cryopreservation protocol, originally developed for farmed salmonids, was tested for the first time on the sperm of wild native trout that populate the Molise rivers by the scientific project staff. Thus was born, in…

January is the main month for spawning in the Volturno River and its sides. Females mature their eggs, approach breeding sites, build nests and deposit thousands of small yellow eggs there. The color is due to the yolk which will be the nourishment first for the embryo and then for the newly hatched larvae (the…

To know how to protect a species and manage the human activities connected to it, it is important to know its biological characteristics, dynamics and behaviors. The age, the growth rate of the trout and therefore the length reached at the first reproduction are decisive parameters. To estimate the age of the fish, we can…

In December, the semen collection of the native Mediterranean trout individuals on the Volturno River began. Here in particular the staff is on the Lorda, here are the first images:

The project technical staff spent the whole month of December on the Volturno looking for native Mediterranean trout males for sampling and taking the new semen to be used for the new upcoming fertilizations and for the cryobank. In search of males on the Volturno:

Our technical-scientific staff has spent the last few weeks on the Volturno to install the cages necessary for the capture of the males going up to the breeding sites. In the video, some specimens captured and sampled:

On the Adriatic side, the substantial stability of the Biferno in recent seasons has favored a natural increase in the youth stadiums, which our technical staff has found in large numbers even at the mouth of those small spring streams that had been identified as suitable sites for the enhancement of reproductive capabilities. One above…

The samplings for monitoring the results of the last breeding season in the Volturno river have ended. Now in the Unimol laboratories, the scientific staff is preparing to process the samples taken and to process the results of the genetic analyzes, ready in a few months: however, we can already anticipate something … On the…

In the video and in the photo you can see two specimens of male trout while side by side they feed in peace, without fighting each other. This happens because they are not yet in the reproductive period, otherwise we would see them as rivals and fighters. In fact, it is known that in salmonids…

The genetic analyzes of the first year of the project had revealed, in some peripheral basins of the Volturno River, the presence of resident (non-migratory) populations with a discrete component of indigenous genetics. We are now continuing these investigations to discover, before the breeding season, the possible presence of pure source populations to be used…

In recent weeks we have carried out monitoring in the Biferno basin in Santa Maria del Molise (Rio Santa Maria), where we had placed artificial nests last spring. Here are some of the individuals from whom tissue samples were taken for DNA analysis. The numerous parr spots (narrow and elongated), typical of Mediterranean trout, bode…

Here are the trout from Volturno, the result of spring sowing and a lot of commitment and passion on the part of the project staff!

The adaptation works in the hatchery of Rocchetta a Volturno proceed incessantly. In addition to the finalization of the hatchery, before the next breeding season there will also be an educational center with a multipurpose room, for conferences and face-to-face meetings that we hope to be able to organize as soon as we are in…

We were inspired by a reflection by Alex Vigliani, an expert environmental hiking guide, to ask ourselves whether or not to practice this “sport” that is becoming popular in our territories. For those few who do not yet know it, it is a matter of practicing the walk not only on land, but in the…

Slow motion emotion: in the tributary streams of the Biferno we managed to film some specimens in ascent! In fact, with the summer storms, the instinct of the ascent pushes the trout to explore the upper quadrants of the rivers and streams in which, in the winter months, they will reproduce.

In the sampled specimens, in addition to genetic analyzes, morphological ones concerning 7 phenotypic classifications are also carried out, including the analysis and comparison of the so-called “parr spots”. It is a matter of observing 9-13 large ellipsoidal blue-grayish spots present along the median region of each side, sometimes divided or fragmented and / or…

The photo is not that great, but it is the first documented native Mediterranean trout fry, born in an artificial nest of the Rio Santa Maria, the result of fertilization with cryopreserved seed. The success of the sowing activities can only be assessed by monitoring the next few years, but in the meantime numerous fry…

One of our cages for the control of the breeding was positioned in the Rio Caprionero, because it is from there that the trout from the Volturno river go back to go to reproduce. In fact, the main course of the river, although it has a good substrate for reproduction, is vulnerable due to the…

After more than two months of lockdown in which Italy had to stop due to the pandemic from Covid19, we finally start again with all due caution. Work is underway in Oratino to make the hatchery accessible to all, in the hope of reopening our facilities to visitors as soon as possible.

The photo shows us a genetically pure individual of about 50 cm caught just downstream of the entrance of the Rio Freddo in the main course of the Biferno. In the samplings of this winter and early spring we observed that a part of the spawners in the Biferno River go up the Rio Freddo,…

Among the various methodologies provided by our project, there is also the sowing of the larvae hatched in the hatchery and taken a few days before free feeding to avoid domestication. Here we are in Rio Freddo and we have just built a nest with the addition of plants and mosses that will provide protection…

Before sowing, we dedicated ourselves to the construction of nests in the main course and in the sides of the Volturno river. The main course of the Volturno river was heavily hit by the floods of last autumn-winter and, following the monitoring carried out, we recorded a severe depletion of the salmonid population. For this…

5,000 native trout eggs from Molise, genotyped and fertilized with cryopreserved semen are ready to hatch, protected in their nests rebuilt directly in the rivers they belong to. Reintroducing embryonic eggs of S. magrostigma native trout into the nests is a key factor to support natural reproduction and to support the recolonization of the project…

As we have already said elsewhere, the first step is to select the breeding stock. The specimens are captured, temporarily retained and genetically characterized (or recognized, if already marked). Male migration begins first, therefore the semen is taken first, which is put to freeze in the cryobank. Subsequently the eggs are taken from a certain…

It is spring and the embryonic S. macrostigma eggs, fertilized this winter partly with fresh seed, partly with frozen one, are close to hatching. For this reason we must hurry and bring them to their rivers: despite the pandemic, in fact, the NatSalMo technical staff – with all the necessary precautions and strictly observing the…

Even in this period of pandemic from Covid-19, in our project there are some invaluable actions that must absolutely be carried out in order not to risk nullifying the work done so far. One of these is the topping up of liquid nitrogen in the cryobank containers of the native Mediterranean trout seed, the first…

In the municipality of Oratino, in the Bivaro area, the project staff recovered the old wash house by cleaning it and transforming it into an hatchery. The major obstacle to implementing this transformation was due to the impossibility of installing air conditioners to refrigerate the water necessary for optimal incubation of the eggs. But thanks…

One of the great innovations of our project is the creation of the first cryobank of the Mediterranean trout seed, a precious tool for the conservation and protection of the species. In January 2020, the project staff set up a mobile laboratory at the Rocchetta hatchery in Volturno to freeze the seminal material taken from…

At Biferno, Boiano locality. Cages are cleaned every day: in fact, together with natural waste, the current also carries a lot of waste, which must be removed as soon as possible to allow the trout in the cage to remain in the best possible conditions. Subsequently, we proceed to recover the trout rising from the…

February 13th, 2020, first day of the Meeting and Nicolaia Iaffaldano, project manager, immediately illustrates the transferability actions of the NatSalMo project to the Romanian colleagues who have come here from the universities of ULBS and UAIASI. The work is now proceeding quickly and dr. Gibertoni with dr. Esposito reveal interesting details that have emerged…

The next 13 and 14 February the whole project team will meet in Campobasso, at UNIMOL, for a training meeting with the Romanian delegation of the universities of ULBS and UAIASI. In the two days dedicated to the learning visit not only the project will be illustrated, but the progress of the work will be…

Also in the context of the preparatory actions for the project, the morphological analysis of the captured, labeled and photographed individuals was evaluated, from which biological tissue samples (fragment of fat fin) were taken for genetic analysis. The measurements and the counting of the livery characteristics are done through the ImageJ software. The morphological analysis,…

The actions to restore and protect the populations of native S. macrostigma trout in the Volturno and Biferno basins continue with great alacrity. To promote the natural reproduction of native Mediterranean trout, we have just finished installing the barriers and pots for selective access to the main reproduction sites of the Volturno and Biferno. But…

As part of the preparatory action A3, the sampling stations involved 30 sites within the project area in order to cover a wide range of river habitats. The specimens, over 300 between males and females, were captured with electrofishing, measured by length and weight and marked by microchip (Pit-Tag) and with clearly visible T-anchor plates.…

For each flow, the Project team determined the river connectivity, or – by means of a visual census – the identification of those obstacles (natural or artificial barriers) that limit the movement and the fish lit. The sections of the waterways downstream of the 30 sampling sites of the chemical-physical analyzes and of the substrate…

The first Open Forum of the Nat.Sal.Mo. project was held on 5 December in the conference room of the Molise Region in Campobasso. It was an information and training meeting aimed at the administrators and technicians of the local authorities involved in various capacities in the management and planning of the two river basins covered…

In the early morning of December 5th Nicolaia Iaffaldano, project manager of the NatSalMo project, together with the president of the CIPM association Giuseppe Mastrangelo and a large group of researchers and scholars, planted and inaugurated the signs useful for fishermen who will find themselves in the No Kill Zone of Biferno next fishing season.…

For our project on December 5th will be a day full of important events: in the morning our team of scholars will visit the breeding sites of Biferno and Volturno to take stock of the implementation of river connectivity. On that occasion we will also plant the No Kill Zone warning signs strongly desired by…

As anticipated, in the meeting held on 19 November at Unimol in the presence of the entire partnership, the results obtained so far from the actions carried out in the previous months were presented. In particular, the meeting opened with dr. Bruno Testa who illustrated the results of the analyzes conducted in the waters of…

The meeting on November 19th 2019 in which the entire partnership of the LIFE NatSalMo project met at the Agriculture Environment and Food Department of the University of Molise di Campobasso was a real success in terms of attendance and content. The representatives of UNIMOL, Mediterranean Trout Research Group (MTRG), Legambiente (LAM), Studio Giuliano (SG)…

In a workshop dedicated to LIFE projects to protect fish fauna, Nat.Sal.Mo, on the recovery and protection of native Mediterranean trout in the Molise river basins, could not be missing. Representing our project on October 4th in Pontevecchio Magenta (MI) there was P.P. Gibertoni of MTRG, who masterfully illustrated to the numerous participants the numerous…

One of the first actions of our project involves sampling and genetic analysis on the Mediterranean trout populations currently present in the Volturno and Biferno. Last winter the first samples were taken with the electro-phishing technique: a narcosis is induced with calibrated electrical impulses and, after taking measurements and measurements, the specimen is released where…

Let’s kick off a small in-depth section of the terminology used in the NatSalMo project. Salmo macrostigma Not everyone knows that the Mediterranean trout typical of central-southern and insular Italy has a scientific name, or rather, two: Salmo macrostigma or Salmo cettii. Today we tend to consider the two nomenclatur as synonyms, but in truth…

In Sibiu a delegation of researchers from the LIFE NatsalMo project, led by Project Manager Nicolaia Iaffaldano, has disclosed the excellent results obtained so far in the most effective procedures to be applied to optimize the cryopreservation protocol of the sperm of the Salmo macrostigma . The welcome of the Romanian colleagues was, as always,…

The first important results of the studies conducted within the Project will be presented by Nicolaia Iaffaldano and other scholars of the NatSalMo team at the International Conference on Aquatic Biodiversity – organized by the Lucian Blaga University – which will take place from 25th to 28th on September 2019 in Sibiu, Romania. The conference…

“Molise: teachers and researchers working to save Mediterranean trout” The article La nuova Ecologia is available HERE

The first meeting of the Nat.Sal.Mo project – Recovery of Salmo macrostigma: Application of innovative techniques and participatory governance tools in rivers of Molise , funded under the European LIFE+ program was held. The University of Molise – with the Agriculture, Environment and Food Department – as well as being the promoter and leader of…

THE PROJECT LIFE NatSalMo, a European project for the recovery of native trout in the Molise river basins, was presented today, May 28th at the Molise Region’s Department of Agricultural Policies and Environmental Protection. Nicola Cavaliere (Regional Councilor for Agricultural and Agri-food Policies, Rural Development, Forestry Planning, Hunting and Fishing, Productive Fishing, Environmental Protection, Soil…