Oysters, razor clams, clams, and mussels are doing well, but mussels are doing very poorly. As the mid-August holiday approaches, it's time to take stock in the Santa Gilla lagoon. The 120 members of the six cooperatives that make up the Santa Gilla Fish Consortium aren't smiling: €400,000 is barely enough to support the fishermen. Last year's brutal heatwave affected mussels, causing the harvest to plummet by 80%.

The people of Cagliari noticed the disaster in the mussel harvest at the market and in the fishmongers, where they exceeded 9 euros per kilo.

"During the last three weeks of August last year, record-breaking heat caused the lagoon waters to reach exceptional temperatures," recalls Valter Rizzardini, vice president of the consortium. "The thermometer was consistently above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) due to the hot African air that had settled in Sardinia." This was too much for the mussels, which can tolerate temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to three days. "We were forced to buy seed because our mussels are born and harvested in Santa Gilla. Next year, we hope to return to the markets."