The Italian navy has rescued more than 1,100 asylum seekers on eight boats and warned that calmer seas could result in more people attempting the journey.

The asylum seekers were picked up in just 24 hours off the coast of the island of Lampedusa.

They all appear to be from sub-Saharan Africa and are being taken to Sicily.

About 50 women were among those crowded onto the dinghies, along with dozens of alleged minors.

The asylum seekers were rescued as part of the Italian government's Mare Nostrum operation, which mobilises warships, amphibious vessels and aircraft to try to prevent further tragedies like the two shipwrecks in October in which more than 400 people died.

"Unfortunately, we estimate around 3,000 people are currently trying to make it across in boats every month," captain Marco Maccaroni said, adding that in the three months the operation has been up and running, 9,300 people have been rescued.

"With the arrival of the spring and better weather conditions, it's likely the number will increase," he said.

According to Italy's deputy interior minister, Filippo Bubico, the number of asylum seekers landing in Italy rose 10-fold in January, "in an incessant and massive influx of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East".

Immigration charities estimate between 17,000 and 20,000 asylum seekers have died at sea trying to reach Europe over the past 20 years, often crossing on rickety fishing boats or rubber dinghies.

ABC/AFP