loading . . . The battle to save octopuses, one trap at a time “In a few years, there won’t be a single octopus left. Greek tourism is associated with the species, but soon we’ll only see them in photos,” says Captain Alex Cornelissen, activist and CEO of the Amsterdam-based environmental organization Sea Shepherd Global, sounding the alarm.
He speaks to Kathimerini through a bad mobile phone connection from the Thermaic Gulf, in northern Greece, where a major operation to retrieve illegal octopus traps from the seabed is about to be completed. During this campaign by the dynamic organization, which has stood up to governments and fishermen in the Mediterranean as well as giant fishing boats in distant oceans, the activist found that octopus fishing in Greece remains unchecked, both in the Thracian Sea and in the Thermaic Gulf, where most of the molluscs that end up on the fish market come from.
“The sea is filled with tens of thousands of traps, plastic containers in which octopuses nest until they are retrieved by fishing boats. Ten percent of the traps we retrieved had octopuses inside,” he says. “These are the numbers we have also seen in Italy. The data we collected will be evaluated after the campaign and then compared with last year’s.” He draws on the experience of Italy, where the organization has been running similar campaigns successfully for several years.
“We are already in contact with the Greek authorities to return next year, even more organized and with the aim of coming up with some numbers, and seeing how many octopuses are actually in there. We also want to map the extent of illegal fishing and see how it affects the octopus population,” Cornelissen says.
Dozens of bags with octopus traps that were retrieved from the Thracian Sea and the Thermaic Gulf during the operation. [Sea Shepherd Greece]
This year, the number of traps was beyond imagination, says Valia Stefanoudaki, director of Sea Shepherd Greece. During the recent 40-day operation that the group has just completed in Greek seas, 32,654 illegal traps were collected and hundreds of octopuses were released. The operation was carried out with the support of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Central Macedonia, and in collaboration with the Fisheries Departments of Regional Units, the Panhellenic Association of Public Ichthyologists, and the local port authorities.
The campaign started in 2024 after the group heard that there were thousands of traps in the Thracian Sea. “At first we thought that this number was an exaggeration, but in the end it wasn’t. Last year, in 17 days, we collected 6,500 traps, while in this mission of about 40 days we have reached 33,000 traps,” Stefanoudaki says. “The goal was to collect as many traps as we could. But the ultimate goal is to highlight the extent of the problem. Because we started from Samothrace and reached Katerini. So the whole map – Samothrace, Alexandroupoli, Kavala, Porto Lagos, Thessaloniki – shows there are thousands of plastic boxes scattered in the sea.”
The purpose of the project is to collect all the data together with last year’s information and demand changes in legislation and policing, she explains.
### ‘A cheap destructive tool’
An ally in the action is Professor Dimitris Tsianis, biologist-ichthyologist at the Xanthi Fisheries Department and president of the Panhellenic Association of Public Ichthyologists. He tells Kathimerini that octopus fishing with traps is carried out in three ways: with net bags known as “bolkos,” with plastic traps (using plastic olive containers, tied in rows), and with wire traps, known locally as “kiourti.”
During the months of July, August and September, the use of plastic traps is prohibited by law and they must be removed from the water. Furthermore, each professional fisherman is allowed to have up to 1,500 plastic traps per boat, which must be marked to indicate who they belong to and not set them at a depth of less than 10 meters. “Why are they using this tool? Because it is very cheap and does not require special fishing knowledge. So it has these theoretical advantages, which however become disadvantages because it is very difficult to monitor and control. Each fisherman has set tens of thousands of plastic containers, resulting in overfishing of octopuses,” he says.
After 40 days at sea, the crew of the Sea Eagle saw wildlife dwindle. Experts warn that, if the trend continues, there will no longer be any octopus left to serve with ouzo. [Sea Shepherd Greece]
“Our logic is therefore, firstly, to remove a large quantity of traps that remain in the sea; and secondly, to obtain data in order to substantiate a proposal. A report that will open a dialogue for amending the legislation, specifically a presidential decree of 2004, which is no longer applicable. New ways of monitoring this method [of fishing] must also be found – the situation is extremely critical,” he says. “This is an issue that is both worthy and linked to our country and our tourism. In order to continue to have it, we must treat it with logic, with prudence and in terms of sustainable management. [We need to do] all of this, if we want both ourselves and the tourists to [continue to] enjoy ouzo with octopus.”
In addition to overfishing of octopuses, this particular method of fishing also prevents them from reproducing. Cornelissen notes that this is the reproductive season of octopuses, and for this reason, in the campaign, they have detected more and more eggs in the traps, especially in recent days. “This is the period when the octopuses enter the traps. They lay their eggs there and the fishermen remove them. So they not only kill the octopus, but also the offspring, which will affect not only this generation but also future ones. Our goal is to save wildlife. Even the fishermen’s common sense would dictate that if you are interested in fishing, you should leave them alone this time of the year, because that is when they reproduce. So that there is a future,” he says.
But the problem is not only the overfishing of octopuses, but also plastic pollution. “Eighty percent of the traps we collected were so damaged that they shattered in our hands. The seas are full of these plastic containers, which in our opinion should be banned,” Cornelissen says.
The Sea Eagle, a 35-meter Sea Shepherd vessel, came from Italy to retrieve plastic octopus traps from Alexandroupoli to Thessaloniki. [Sea Shepherd Greece]
Stefanoudaki ends our discussion with the hope that this operation will bring about a major change. “We hope that with all our results and findings gathered, we will be able to address both the regional authorities and the central administration and highlight the problem, so that the necessary measures can be taken.
“As far as we are concerned, the octopus should not be fished at all during the summer months. And our great joy, of course, is that so many octopuses have been released. Over 1,700 last year and this year. The joy of the moment when you release them and they go free is indescribable. We also have a lot of babies this year and that was the goal,” she says. “We will continue next year and for as long as it takes. We will be here to help this wonderful creature – because it is a wonderful creature – to recover. We cannot continue fishing in this way. Until when will we do it? Until there is nothing left and everything is dead?”
Fisheries Environment Conservation
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https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1280723/the-battle-to-save-octopuses-one-trap-at-a-time/
