PALERMO A European funded project to promote the route of bluefin tuna that brings together traditional fishing and other important industries such as tourism, gastronomy and maritime sports was presented in Palermo. The final goal of the project is to boost tourism in the regions linked to the "tuna culture". Tuna Route, co-financed by the European Maritime of Fisheries Fund , involves 10 partners from 4 countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland): the public administrations of Algarve in Portugal, Cadiz and Balearic Islands in Spain, Carloforte (Sardinia) and Favignana (Sicily) in Italy, with the technical support of Feedback, communication agency based in Palermo, Oritek for the development of a sales management tool and My Week Charter, a charter company that promotes sustainable tourism. The project has been presented in Palermo, at the Regional Department of Tourism, with delegates of all partners involved. The project coordinator is Iedt, the Institute for Employment and Socio-economic Development of the Regional Government of Cadiz, assisted by Dalula Marine, an agency specialized in blue growth at European level. Tuna Route will provide different activities and tools aiming to engage local stakeholders in the tourism sector (charter companies, ecotourism, recreational fishing, restaurants, museums) such as different regional workshop for SMEs local entrepreneurs, pilot routes or itineraries for charter boats, , a sound marketing campaign and an online sales management tool, through which tuna related stakeholders can sell their services. Tuna Route will end in December 2019. "Since the Punic and Roman era - said Federico Cardona, project manager at Dalula Marine - tuna has been part of the culture and is one of the main sources of employment and income for coastal communities in regions such as Cadiz and Carloforte, where we can find the last operational tuna traps in Europe. In May every year, the coasts of Cadiz, with four tuna traps, and the coasts of Carloforte, with the unique tuna trap operational in the Mediterranean, celebrate the continuity of this ancient activity with different festivals such as "Ruta del Atún" in Cadiz and the Girotonno in Carloforte by promoting the tuna culture, heritage and gastronomy of the Bluefin Tuna. With the Tuna Route we also expect to bring a sustainable nautical tourism closer to these regions in which the bluefin tuna is (like Carloforte and Cadiz) or was (like Favignana), highly relevant from a socioeconomically perspective. The meeting in Palermo follows the first partner meeting held in Palma de Mallorca. In the coming months, workshops will be organized to involve new stakeholders interested in the project.