I knock on Bruno Molin’s door and his wife welcomes me in. Her husband hasn’t been well lately, but she invites me in, offers me a bussolà cookie (one of the homemade ones) and a coffee. After a few minutes Bruno comes downstairs, and he begins to talk to me about his life and his passion for fishing; when he does, his eyes light up.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO LIVE ON BURANO?

If I ever left Burano, I would die. I would never leave, even for all the gold in the world. When I wake up in the morning, I go to the shore, I see my two boats, all my work supplies, and I feel so lucky. Here, no one bothers you, you can leave all the doors open, there’s no crime, no one who does you any harm.

HOW DO THE RESIDENTS OF BURANO GET ALONG?

We all know each other and we’re like a family. If someone needs help, we’re all ready. We all know each other, from the oldest person to the youngest. I don’t have relatives here, my children all live elsewhere, but I’m known all over the island as “the uncle,” everyone comes, like they were my nieces and nephews, even though they are all fathers and mothers now – I’m still their uncle.

WHAT’S THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TOURISTS LIKE?

They ask us all about the colors, our history – it’s nice. Now there are a lot of tourists that buy homes on Burano. I always say that Burano is after Venice, but it if were first, everyone would come here, no one would go to Venice. Here, we have lacemaking, beautiful colors, fishing.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A FISHERMAN?

My whole life. I turned 73, and last November I finally left my job as a fisherman. When you’re out on the water, you’re there around the clock, not just for one or two hours. When we’re home, we spend all our time putting our oars away. Now my son is continuing in my footsteps.

HOW DOES YOUR JOB WORK? WHAT ARE THE SECRETS OF A GOOD FISHERMAN?

There were always three of us, but in the last few years, there were just two of us. All day on the water, pulling in the net. You have to have the insight to know the best places to go. There were guys who brought home 1000 fish, and others who brought home 10,000. The swamps in the lagoon aren’t all the same, you have to know them, because just a few meters ahead maybe you find thousands of fish; you need time and experience.

HOW HAS THE FISHING INDUSTRY CHANGED?

At one time, we were all fishermen, more than half the population of Burano. I remember that the president of the Burano Cooperative, which is 124 years old; he loved the history of Burano and in the city archives, in 1956-57, in March, there were 274 boats and 970 people who worked on them. There were 8000 of us, and the most important job was fishing.