The power of Poros – Greek communities rising up to resist industrial fish farming

Following the publication of our Ocean Takeover report, we feature a guest blog by Fay Orfanidou, a key member of Aktaia – The Greek Alliance for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Aquaculture, about community resistance to industrial fish farming in Poros, Greece.

The island I call home, Poros, is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Just an hour from Athens by ferry, it holds many delights that are enjoyed in equal measure by my neighbours and the tourists who holiday here.

Its biggest delight by far is the dazzling blue of the Saronic Gulf, visible from almost everywhere on the island, including the ancient Temple of Poseidon, Greek god of the ocean. What would Poseidon, master of the seas, make of the threat posed to Poros and so many other Greek islands by the encroachment of intensive fish farms along our stunning coastlines, I wonder?

The organisation I am part of, Aktaia, is a panhellenic alliance comprised of citizen groups, non-profit organisations, scientists and individuals from over 20 communities across Greece. Together, we stand united in opposition to the disastrous proposal to expand industrial fish farming 24-fold along our coasts, which presents an urgent and severe threat to our precious environment, local livelihoods, wild fish populations, and the centuries-old way of life cherished by both residents and visitors.

Photo credit – Tasos Rodis (and cover image)

As is described in Ocean Takeover, the unchecked growth of intensive fish farming across Greece and indeed right across the Mediterranean Basin risks forever altering the natural beauty and balance that have defined these coastal areas for generations. The waste from fish farms is suffocating the Posidonia meadows – the sea’s maternity ward and vital carbon sink that feeds and protects us all. What we want is a healthy marine ecosystem, rich in wildlife and natural regeneration, and resource use in balance with it. Anything else is unsustainable.

It is shocking to us that the European Union and national governments, including successive Greek governments, are actively supporting and promoting destructive fish farming, including the production of intensively reared seabass and seabream in the Mediterranean. It cannot be right that millions of euros of taxpayers’ money and subsidies are being pumped into foreign-owned industrial aquaculture producers who simply exploit our resources and offshore the economic benefits. By creating a lax regulatory regime which prioritises corporate profit and growth over environmental protection and the safeguarding of other, less impactful, economic activities, our governments are failing us.

Coastal waters are a priceless natural resource and belong to all. No single user has the right to use Greek waters to the detriment of others. For thousands of years, Greek seas have been shared in relative harmony by fishers, recreational boaters, sea transportation, commercial shipping, tourism-related businesses, and year-round and seasonal homeowners. Our seas belong to life and to all – not to the sterile pursuit of profit.

In ancient Greece, Aktaia was the nymph responsible for the settlement of relations between the sea and the coast, as her name indicates in Greek. We feel the weight of history on our shoulders as we stand united in common cause with our neighbours in Spain, Türkiye and Italy, who are fighting their own battles against destructive fish farming in our region. We are aghast at the pillaging of wild fish populations off the coasts of Africa, Latin America and Asia to produce feed for the fish farms which are blighting our lives here in Greece and throughout the Mediterranean. This is not food security. It’s theft: taking fish from the hungry to feed a polluting export industry.

Since the publication of Ocean Takeover, momentum in Poros has continued to build. Just last week the community took to the streets to stand against the fish farming industry operating off our coastline. More than 2,000 people marched along the sea and stood side by side in a human chain, calling for the government to protect our coast from industrial fish farming.  Alongside community mobilisations, we have also had the opportunity to visit parliament where we were able to share the findings of the report with national politicians. Our seas are not for sale. Our fight is for the future of Greece – and we will not give up.

We are the voice of the coastal communities, and we will not be silenced.

Photo credit – Pavlos Nastas