Lampedusa fishermen announced a protest against the use of fishing vessels for the transfer of migrants from the island to the Italian mainland on July 19.

"It is clear that the two ships connecting the Pelagie Islands with the rest of Sicily have become taxis for migrants and no longer manage to ensure the regular transportation of our fish and Lampedusa passengers," said Salvatore Martello, head of Lampedusa fishermen's consortium. "The fishermen's profession, thus, announces that it is protesting starting today."

Discussions on economic losses to the fishing sector caused by the non-arrival and delays of ships now being used mostly for transporting migrants are underway.

"The picture is very clear. In the next few days we will ask to be received by regional president Renato Schifani to illustrate our problems," Martello said.

"We understand well the difficulties experienced due to the thousands of migrants that are landing on our island, but I do not think that it is fair that fishermen must pay the price. If the president does not receive us or does not find a solution to our problem, we are open to going on strike and we will block the port for the entirety of the strike," he added.

Arrivals to Lampedusa are increasing with the warm weather -- the small Mediterranean island's migrant hotspot, which has a capacity of 400, contained around 3,000 migrants the day the protest was declared.

Piantedosi meets Fekih

That same day, Tunisian interior minister Kamel Fekih was received in Rome by his Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi.

The Italian capital will host an international conference on migration on July 23. Tunisian president Kais Saied is expected to attend alongside heads of state and government from Mediterranean countries.

Piantedosi said the upcoming conference "marks an important step and confirms the vision of interest towards the Mediterranean, which our government brought back to the center of the European agenda."

The meeting with Fekih, the minister continued, "was a chance to share problems and views and to discuss the need to involve also the countries of origin of the migrants arriving and neighboring ones in an all-encompassing project."

Arrivals up in 2023

With the number of migrant arrivals up this year from last, the Italian government is working in Africa and Europe to block departures from North African coasts.

Since January, at least 81,000 people have arrived via sea, a 140% increase from last year, according to Interior Ministry data.

While half of those arrivals left from the coast of Tunisia, a similar number were taken back by Tunisian patrol boats. These interventions could ramp up in the coming months in response to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Tunisia and the EU on July 16.

The agreement allocates €105 million ($116.8 million) to countering irregular migration in Tunisia.