Ghosts of the Venice Lagoon: Paying Attention to Loss and Wonder in Local Fishermen’s Stories

This paper examines the environmental narratives of local fishermen and their experience of loss and wonder in the Venice Lagoon through the critical figure of the ‘ghost’. Ghosts call for ‘a particular approach to noticing’, helping us to pay attention to what Anna Tsing calls ‘landscapes of entanglement, bodies with other bodies, time with other times’ (2017, M7). The Venice Lagoon is a transitional ecosystem particularly vulnerable to climate change, sea-level rise, and anthropogenic pressures. Based on semi-structured interviews with eight local artisanal fishermen, this study explores their perception of environmental changes in their daily activities. A thematic analysis identifies three main themes: ‘Spectral Relationships’, ‘Haunting Past’, and ‘Ghost Knowledge’. As fishermen witness the disappearance of plant and fish species, as well as traditional practices, the ghosts of a vanishing past invite practices of attentiveness and wonder towards the complexity and unpredictability of the living world.