"Ghost farms" littering the sea area near Ithaca (video)

The littered seabed near the Greek island of Ithaca is cleaned up every year by the Dutch NGO Healthy Seas.

Euronews edition tellsthat the seabed is littered with garbage left over from fish farms – tens of tons of rotten nets are being removed by NGO employees who have been coming to Greece for the third year in a row.

A Dutch NGO has set itself the ambitious goal of restoring the purity of sea waters damaged and made dangerous by abandoned fish farms. There are two such “ghosts” near the island, which have not been functioning for more than ten years. But “the fruits of their activities” remain at the bottom – networks and various equipment, endangering flora and fauna, and mercilessly destroying ecosystems. An employee of the NGO “Healthy Seas” Veronica Mikos says:

“Ghost farms are abandoned old agricultural operations that gradually pollute the area. This is a problem not only for marine life and the environment, but also for local communities. For tourism and for recreational purposes. Local communities are losing areas contaminated by ghost farms.” .

It is difficult to quantify the impact on fisheries caused by marine pollution. The nets at the bottom decompose, poisoning fish and other marine life. Fisherman Argyris Manias bitterly states:

“The fish are getting smaller every year. There is a lot of garbage on the bottom. All this must come out of the sea. This is a very important initiative.”

The operation to clear the seabed at two sites – near the city of Patras and in Ithaca – lasted ten days. In Patras, volunteers collected 30(!) tons of nets and other garbage; data for Ithaca is not yet ready and will be announced later. Local residents support the NGO's efforts, as the Greek authorities have still not taken the initiative to clean up the sea. Pascal Van Erp, representative of the NGO Ghost Diving, says:

“The local community at the very beginning, that is, in 2021, was skeptical. Like, they are cleaning up the fish farms, okay. Let them do it, we'll see how it ends. Now we have the green light. Coast Guard, mayor, everyone The locals are very supportive. It's very nice.”

According to divers, sea pollution is not noticeable at first glance. But that's just the top. Euronews' Apostolos Staikos explains:

“Where you see the endless blue, we see a huge garbage dump. This phrase is used by volunteer divers to describe the situation in the Greek seas and in some other areas of the Mediterranean. That is why every year cleanup crews pull tons of nets and garbage from the bottom of the sea.”

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