The 'red prawn war':how trauma gripped a Sicilian fishing town

The ‘red prawn war’: How trauma gripped a Sicilian fishing town

Situated 1,130km from the Italian capital, but only 515km across the sea from Libya, a fishing town in Sicily has found itself caught in the crosshairs of a territorial dispute.Every morning at the crack of dawn, fishmongers gather at the historical fish market of Mazara del Vallo, a town in western Sicily with a population of 52,000, shouting out their best offers of the day.

Dressed in rubber aprons and boots, they cut fresh swordfish into large chunks and wash baskets of mussels, as the acrid smell of fish fills the air.

Coronavirus restrictions in Italy have not changed the daily routine much for these traders. But the psychological effects of the “red prawn war” have.

“Look! Red like the blood it takes our men to bring them here,” says Nicola Boccellato, as he lays out red prawns – 1kg for 50 euros (about $60) – on one of his stalls.

With their distinctive red colour, even when raw, red prawns are considered a delicacy. For decades, they have been Mazara del Vallo’s signature product, so much so they became its official symbol and appear alongside the town’s name in culinary books.

But since the start of a territorial dispute in the Central Mediterranean, the town’s livelihood has hung in the balance.