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Greece: To preserve its seabed, the government bans trawlers from its protected maritime zones
Greece: To preserve its seabed, the government bans trawlers from its protected maritime zones
(WE, THE EUROPEANS / FRANCE 2)
Deemed responsible for the destruction of marine ecosystems and overfishing, trawling will be banned in Greek marine protected areas by 2030. A decision long hoped for by small-scale fishermen, victims of declining fish stocks.
In Greece, the archipelago of Fourni, in the Aegean Sea just opposite Turkey, remains the last port of call for fishermen from the Dodecanese. For the new generation, the era of the miraculous catch of their elders is over, and making a living from their trade is becoming difficult. Fish stocks are declining: nearly 30% less in fifty years.
According to Marcos, president of the association of small fishermen of Fourni, the people responsible for this disaster are the big boats that scrape the seabed with their nets: ““We can say that trawlers are causing a real disaster. They are destroying marine ecosystems and corals.” There are only 250 trawlers in Greece, less than 5% of the country’s boats, but their fishing accounts for more than half of the tonnage of fish.
To control their activity, the Greek government has made a decision: by 2030, trawlers will no longer be allowed to fish in the country’s protected maritime areas. Marcos wants to believe in good news: “If this happens, it will save fishing and the sea. If we do not act, the trawlers will end up destroying the Mediterranean. It will be emptied of its fish and there will be no more young fishermen.“
In the meantime, the fishermen of the archipelago have decided not to let this happen any longer. According to them, the trawlers do not respect the rules and fish too close to the coast. Marcos passes sensitive information to Archipelagos, an NGO defending the Mediterranean. On a map, he notes in felt-tip pen the passage of the trawlers in the prohibited waters.Trawlers enter the prohibited zones too close to the coast, we saw some 100 meters from a beach”he says. The NGO has forwarded this map to the Greek government so that it can take action…
Excerpt from “Greece to the rescue of its seabeds”, broadcast in “We, the Europeans” on the 19th September 2024.
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