Slow Fish in Action
Estonian Fish Education
On Estonia's largest island, Saaremaa, school children are developing a deeper understanding of the Baltic Sea that surrounds them, and their cultural relationship to it, thanks to an education project by local Slow Food members. In collaboration with Kuressaare school, Slow Food Saaremaa developed and delivered a pluriannual program all about fish, in which students are taught about the sea ecosystem, fishing practices and traditional fish products and recipes.
Among their activities in the past year, students attended lectures about aquatic environments and sustainable fishing; undertook research and prepared reports about the importance of the water resources and the reproduction seasons of fish, and participated in interactive games to learn about the different fish species found in their country's lakes and rivers.
On April 11 of 2012, a group of 35 students aged 10 to 12 visited a coastal fishing community on the island of Saaremaa.The students walked for six kilometers through the Saaremaa nature reserve and witnessed seasonal fish being caught, cleaned, baked and then smoked gently in a stone oven. Two of the students had actually never tasted fish before this day!
Fish is one of the most widespread traditional foods in Estonia and one of its most important resources, particularly when dried or smoked.
For further information:
Tiina Mai - Slow Food Saaremaa
Terra Madre community of Dried and Smoked Flounder Producers, vill. Nasva
tiina.mai@hotmail.com
