Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2007/C 128/08)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (1). Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months from the date of this publication.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘TINCA GOBBA DORATA DEL PIANALTO DI POIRINO’

EC No: IT/PDO/005/0357/03.08.2004

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

This summary sets out the main elements of the product specification for information purposes.

1.   Responsible department in the Member State:

2.   Group:

3.   Type of product:

Class 1.7.: Fresh fish, molluscs, and crustaceans and products derived therefrom

4.   Specification:

(summary of requirements under Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006)

4.1   Name: ‘Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino’

4.2   Description: The designation ‘Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino’denotes fresh, i.e. unprocessed, specimens of the tench species of fish (Tinca tinca) farmed, born and developed in the geographical area set out below in 4.3 and displaying the following physical traits:

Parr mark: yellow-gold in colour, back is curved and rounded.

Skin: brightly coloured, shiny graphite grey or opaline green on the back and yellow-gold on the sides. The skin is very thin, no more than 1 mm thick, and may have marks, cuts or abrasions provided they are not open wounds and provided they are caused only by fishing or predation.

Skin mucus: transparent and adhering closely to the skin, only noticeable to the touch.

Eyes: shiny, vivid, bright, convex, transparent cornea and black pupil and yellow or orange eye ball.

Gills: bright red or pink colour, moist, free of mucus, silt, parasites or other foreign bodies.

Scales: adherent to the skin, bright, iridescent and gold in colour.

Body: rigid and firm, slightly flexible, resistant to the touch, not flaccid or soft.

Odour: delicate, smelling of fresh water, absence of sharp, unpleasant or strong fish odours, complete absence of mud, grass or organic matter odours.

Guts: slightly turgid, shiny and smooth, tinged with mother of pearl, not shrivelled or limp, no unpleasant or disgusting odours and no mud or grass odours whatsoever.

Peritoneum: transparent, shiny, odourless and adherent to the flesh.

Muscle structure: flexible and firm, mostly white-pink or red in the muscle fibres of the fins, odourless and, in any event, no mud or grass odours.

Regarding organoleptic qualities, the flesh of ‘Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino’is tender, soft, quite compact, lean and therefore free of unpleasant flavours or odours of mud, silt or grass. The taste is mild and delicate, quite different to that of salt water fish.

4.3   Geographical area: All areas in the municipalities of Poirino (TO), Isolabella (TO), Cellarengo (AT), Pralormo (TO), Ceresole d'Alba (CN) are fully included in the production area. Partly included are areas in the municipalities of Carmagnola, Villastellone, Santenna, Riva presso Chieri, Bandissero d'Alba, Montà d'Alba, Montaldo Roero, Monteu Roero, Pocapaglia, Sanfrè, S. Stefano Roero, Sommariva del Bosco, Sommaria Perno, and Dusino S. Michele, Valfenera, Bottigliera D'Asti, S. Paolo Solbrito and Villanova d'Asti.

4.4   Proof of origin: Every stage in the production process must be monitored and a record made of the inputs and outputs at each stage. Product traceability is ensured by this, and by compiling specific registers managed by the inspection body of the location of ponds and producers, by keeping production registers and by notification to the inspection body of the quantities produced. All natural and legal persons whose names appear in the registers will be subject to control by the inspection body in accordance with the specification and the control plan.

4.5   Method of production: Juvenile fish introduced into fisheries, even those including middle-sized and spawning tench, are left to grow until they reach the desired size. ‘Tinca Gobba del Pianalto di Poirino’is farmed in a strictly mono-species environment. The size of product varies from juvenile to recruitment and spawning-stock, according to the cut for consumption. Tench may be farmed either in existing or new clay ponds, provided they are located within the production area. The water supply may be provided by:

precipitation;

surface water or

ground water, generally by groundwater tapping.

In addition to the existing clay ponds, new clay ponds may be made, provided that they do not use artificial total sealing or are made with any other material than clay from Pianalto, in order to preserve the colour characteristics of the ‘tinca gobba dorata’. To prevent pollution due to the agricultural practices used in surrounding land, a grass buffer zone at least five metres wide is created around the perimeter of the pond. Herbicides may not be used within this buffer zone. Spawning-stock may be selected and cross-bred to produce juvenile fish. Both natural and artificial breeding methods may be used. Feed for farmed fish is boosted by natural fertilisation practices in the pools which produce zooplankton for the weaning and growth of juvenile fish. Then feed supplements made be used during the fattening stage. These are prepared with feed that is not derived from meat meal or from genetically modified organisms and that has a protein content — with a correct balance between plant and animal protein — of no more than 45 % by weight. Those intending to produce the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino’must strictly comply with the specification submitted to the EU. Processing operations must be carried out in the area defined in point 4.3 in order to ensure product traceability and control. Since fishery products are highly perishable and must be handled with care, this also prevents contamination and ensures the product retains its organoleptic and qualitative features.

4.6   Link: Unlike tench from other geographical areas, ‘Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino’does not have a muddy or grassy taste or aroma and the flesh is tender. This specific quality is the direct result of the type of fishery management that has always been practised in the Pianalto di Poirino area. Fisheries in this area have similar environments since the ponds do not have a continuous build up of silt at the base and the water conditions are extremely variable during most of the production season, which prevents the conditions propitious to the development of algal ‘blooms ’from forming.

This explains why the fisheries in the Pianalto di Poirino area used to farm tench are unlikely to develop stable and consistent populations of blue-green algae, which means the fish flesh does not acquire the typical aroma known, for good reason, in French as ‘limon’[silt].

The high plains of Pianalto di Porino are distant from the surface waters coming down from the Alps and the ground water beneath the flood layer. Precipitation levels in the area are low (700 mm/year) and the small catchment basin swiftly channels run-off water away to the valley. The particular clay-rich and gently undulating structure of the Altopiano di Poirino naturally lends itself to retaining surface water. Its population has worked the land and built catchment dams to supply water for irrigation, which are also ideally suited to tench farming. The rural landscape was and still is testament to many small and large fisheries, often built close to dwellings and villages. Tench has always been farmed in these ponds, both as an additional form of protein and as a trading product. In the past the ponds had many uses: as clay pits, to water livestock, for irrigation and so forth. The water would remain all year round and, although subject to organic growth, high variations in water levels, oxygen content and temperature, was still enough to sustain the tench, which is the species of fish best adapted to such harsh conditions. Most fisheries are located in the municipality of Poirino, but many others, a total of 400 ponds, are located throughout the Pianalto high plains, which give the landscape its unique features. Tench farmed in the fisheries of Pianalto di Poirino do not have that muddy aroma which, to a greater or lesser degree, is usually associated with tench farmed in rice fields, rivers or lakes in locations less suitable than the Pianalto. These particular soil and weather conditions, together with century-old traditions of production methods, give the Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino specific traits which make it one of its kind. This excellent local product is generally consumed in the area in hotels and local restaurants, which account for almost all production.

The link between geological phenomena which led to the formation of the Altopiano di Poirino and the disappearance of contemporary species of fish, means that Tinca tinca can be considered an indigenous species that was, or was becoming, already prevalent in the lower to middle Pleistocene era during the Neogene period. The presence of Tinca gobba dorata in the Pianalto di Poirino, as a species of fish farmed and prized for its gastronomic and economic value, is attested by documents dating back to the 13th century. One of the many taxes imposed on the rural population of Ceresole d'Alba was even on the delivery of variable quantities of tench. Very detailed information has become available relatively recently, such as the geographical study of Turin and the Piedmont published by Ciappichelli in 1954, One of the authors, Natale Veronesi, wrote a chapter on tench breeding: ‘The fisheries of Pianalto di Poirino and their usage’. Among the many interesting points he makes, Veronesi mentions professional fishermen who would also manage other people's fisheries under sharecropping or rental arrangements. Since the Altopiano had no major rivers in which to farm fish, the sole justification for this profession was the yield of tenches. Moreover, consultation of the ‘Consegne del sale’[salt deliveries] in Poirino clearly shows that already in 1775 there were five families of fishermen, who evidently earned their income from farming and selling tench. Professional fishing, meaning tench farming, carried on over the centuries and only recently, towards the start of the 1980s, did it cease altogether as a full-time activity, although it did remain a side activity to agriculture. Product traceability is ensured by the inspection body keeping a list of producers, fishponds and processors.

4.7   Inspection body:

4.8   Labelling: The product shall be sold in single-use containers or bags bearing:

the wording ‘Tinca Gobba Dorata del Pianalto di Poirino’;

the image of a female tench with the head turned to the left;

the wording: ‘Denominazione d'Origine Protetta — D.O.P.’.

The label may also contain wording to distinguish the producer, the size of which may not be more than half the size of the wording mentioned above. The label shall bear the logo and wording as set out in the specification.

Products prepared using the PDO, even after processing and treatment, may be released for consumption in packaging bearing the reference to this designation but may only use the EU logo provided that:

the protected designation product certified as such is the sole component of the product group concerned;

users of the protected designation product are authorised by the holders of the intellectual property right concerned, grouped together in a syndicate and assigned a supervisory role by the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry. The syndicate will be responsible for registering them and keeping watch on correct use of the protected designation. In the absence of a supervisory syndicate, these functions shall be carried out by the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, as the national authority responsible for implementing Regulation (EC) No 510/2006.

(1)  OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12.