Issues
“People have the power to change. If they know, they might care. If they care, they might start asking questions like why are we doing this and why can’t we change?”
– Sylvia Earle, Marine Biologist in film Corazon Salado
What is the problem with fish farming?
The massive 24x area expansion plan for industrial-scale fish farms across Greece’s once pristine coastlines presents an urgent and severe threat to the environment, local livelihoods, wild fish populations, and the centuries-old way of life cherished by both residents and visitors. This unchecked growth risks forever altering the natural beauty and balance that has defined these coastal areas for generations.
The world situation in aquaculture and fisheries
The global trend towards food control and the concentration of the primary sector in the hands of a few multinationals with enormous power includes capture fisheries and aquaculture.
- The EU’s Green Transition Strategy recommends a New Economy of high intensity and sustained growth. The Blue Economy – a key pillar of the Green Transition dictates investment intensity and a competition between individual strategies (both investor and geopolitical) for the marine and terrestrial space.
- One of the sectors is aquaculture. The ‘cage invasion’ is closely linked to the ultra-renewable model of aquaculture, as a result of the strategy of continuous growth in European production over the next decade. Greece is following the same logic, despite its balanced fish production and consumption (unlike the EU).
- We are all witnessing a global movement of fish from warmer to colder waters. This is due to the different way fish metabolise their food, i.e. using oxygen. The gradual warming of the seas reduces the oxygen content. So fish move, not in search of food, but of oxygen to assimilate it. This mechanism constantly reduces the fish in the tropics.
- Industrial aquaculture is part of an economic activity that involves large fishing fleets that are subsidized and literally plunder the oceans and deplete the catches especially in countries that are unwilling or unable to impose restrictions. In many cases, aquaculture and fishing fleets are owned by the same companies.
- Aquaculture should be divided into two groups: firstly, those farming oysters and herbivorous species. and 2. those that farm carnivorous fish, i.e. those that consume other fish, 2-4 times their weight before reaching the market. These aquaculture farms can be considered consumers and not producers of fish in terms of their balance sheet, so they are not sustainable and are 90%. So aquaculture in our country becomes part of a subsidised mechanism that is out of control and is driving the world’s catches to collapse.
- Quantitatively, of the 90 million tonnes of declared catches per year, 30 become feed, half for aquaculture and half for livestock and poultry farming, with the total falling by one million tonnes per year since 1996.
Environmental, social and economic impacts
- There is a huge lack of effective controls and the absence of municipalities from the advisory and control procedures. The problem also arises from the methodology of controls and the vagueness of the criteria.
- European directives and Greek legislation prohibit the establishment of aquaculture farms in areas with Neptune meadows (algae) – a species strictly protected and critical for the health of marine ecosystems and the protection of the climate – because it has been proven that they cause their destruction. It takes 100 years for 1 square metre of seagrass to grow.
- Intensive fish farming in cages causes pollution from their excrement, from net cleaning chemicals and from the excess food that escapes.
- The over-concentration of the fish population in cages encourages the development of diseases and parasites, resulting in the necessary use of antibiotics and pesticides. The use of antibiotics is detrimental to the marine environment and public health.
- Eutrophication (lack of oxygen) due to bioaccumulation turns the seabed into a dead zone full of mud around and under the cages.
- Hybridization due to fish escapement around fish farms reduces the genetic diversity of native fish populations (genetic contamination effect). 20% of the food of industrial fish escapes into the sea, thus feeding (contaminating) the wild fish we eat.
- Fish farming in itself contributes to the decline of wildlife as 15% of the world’s fisheries are used to feed farmed fish in the form of fish meal and fish oil (one kilogram of industrial fish must be broken up with at least 1.2 kilograms of wild fish. In addition, fishing for fish feed, which is also carried out in developing countries, deprives poor communities of access to the valuable source of fish protein.
- The nutritional value of a product resulting from the industrialised farming process is extremely compromised, since what is digested by the fish ends up in our stomachs (fish oils and fishmeal contain substances dangerous to health in high concentrations.
- It commits a common asset, the coastal front, to aquaculture-related activities to the exclusion of others, e.g. mild tourism, bathing, public access, recreation, traditional fishing, etc.
- The beaches around aquaculture farms accumulate all kinds of waste, some of it hazardous, such as polystyrene products (plastics), car tyres, nets, etc., but also inorganic substances (ammonia, formaldehyde, phosphorus and heavy metals).
- No restoration of the environment, terrestrial and marine, is carried out when these plants cease operation, with the facilities remaining in place and decomposing over time.
- Serious issues are raised about the welfare of farmed fish, from stacking them in cages (cannibalism when one dies) and from killing methods, which also affect the quality of the final product.
- The use of large floodlights facing the sea to artificially accelerate the growth of the fish, so that the fish do not sleep and consume food. This causes light pollution which disturbs local residents, disturbs the fish fauna, bird life and navigation.
The Greek case as part of the big picture
- The Multiannual National Plan for Fisheries and Aquaculture sets as a central objective the increase of production over the next decade, overriding the European Directives. This is a quantitative objective (in the ‘logic’ of ‘wanting’, not ‘can’), which does not result from an assessment of the carrying capacity of the environment, nor is it part of an overall (central and local) development strategy.
- A consequence of the above logic is the ‘aggressive’ zoning of the specific spatial plan for aquaculture and the delineation of the Areas of Organised Aquaculture Development (AOAD). In essence, it is not about zoning with respect to environmental and scientific rules but about ‘self zoning’, handing over the use of sea and land to any kind of business, with ‘self control’ and with simplified licensing procedures, not taking into account the negative suggestions of municipalities and regions and the contrary opinion of local communities. This latter is the very focus of the Common European Policy on Fisheries and Aquaculture. These are, after all, huge, uncontrollable. Unregulated, unregulated industrial areas.
The 25-fold increase in the area planned to be occupied by the WUAs implies a corresponding reduction in accessible coastlines. - There has been a request for years for the creation of a marine zoning plan, as the marine zoning plan is a prerequisite for the siting of aquaculture. However, this must be done under specific terms and conditions, with respect for marine ecosystems and local communities, and not to the detriment of the public interest. Its legitimacy presupposes a key role for local authorities in its planning.
- Coastal fishing with independent fishermen is disappearing.
- In some cases, the pressure of the aquaculture interest group is so great that it creates a parapolitical pole that works against the interests of the local community.
- Working conditions are extremely unfavourable, with a violation of safety protocols. The majority of workers are low-paid, largely unskilled, seasonal workers. The economic collapse of the plants exacerbates these conditions: Mandatory (unpaid) days off, flexible working hours, reduction of wages, off-the-job interventions.
- Aquaculture does not live up to its promise of creating quality jobs in the places where it operates and competes with other sectors such as tourism and coastal fishing, depriving them of multiple jobs.
- The adverse environmental impacts of aquaculture are cumulative with the environmental impacts of other activities such as shipyards, shipbreaking, port facilities, hydrocarbon extraction and offshore photovoltaics, offshore wind, etc.
Shocking facts about Fish farming in Greece
1.2 kg of Wild Fish Required to produce 1kg of Farmed Fish
Oddly enough, carnivorous fish farming as in the case of sea bass and sea bream requires on average 1.2 kg of wild fish to produce just 1 kg of farmed fish. This leads to global depletion of wild fish stocks and greater amounts of hunger in poorer countries where the fish are being removed from coastal waters.
Destruction of Poseidonia Meadows
Due to massive quantities of waste and eutrophication, open cage fish farming has a very negative impact on the vitally important Posidonia meadows, a major carbon sink in the Mediterranean. Many facilities in Greece illegally operate over Posidonia meadows, despite the clear provisions of Greek and European legislation. Evidence exists of destruction of Posidonia meadows near fish farms.
Supporting material: [1]
Mass Mortality and Escapes of Farmed Fish
Cases of mass mortality of farmed fish are common and have been recorded in various regions, causing great environmental damage. Escaped farmed fish can lead to genetic diversity dilution and competition for resources, affecting the health and adaptability of wild fish while disrupting biodiversity.
Extreme Use of Formaldehyde and Antibiotics
Industrial fish farms use rampant formaldehyde, pesticides and antibiotics, harming the natural environment, free fish and therefore human health. Pesticides cause chemical resistance in sea lice to non-target marine life. Antibiotic use fosters resistance in farmed and wild species, posing risks to human health. Farmed Sea Bass and Sea Bream are categorized as “AVOID” by SeafoodWatch.
Microplastics and Waste
A survey conducted by Ozon NGO shows that in Greece fish farms produce large amounts of microplastics and waste, which can easily be seen in the marine environment. If the Poay plan is fully implemented, 336,530 tons of waste will be poured into the sea each year.
Expansion of Existing Fish Farms by 24x all over Greece
The Poay plan expands fish farming areas in Greece by 24x, from 9,800 to 240,000 stremmata. Gulfs filled with fish farms make an unwelcome surprise to visitors coming to Greece for its promised clear blue seas. Six Poay areas will have TWO to THREE times more fish farming area than ALL of Greece prior to the Poay.
Supporting material: [1] [2]
Α Threat to the Tourist Industry
A national poll indicated that 42% of Greeks would choose NOT to visit a place with fish farms. According to research the tourist sector provides 5x more job opportunities and 5x more income than the proposed fish farm expansion. On the other hand, only an average of 3.9, often low-income and seasonal jobs are provided per fish farm.
Outdated Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)
The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) used for the approval of the Poays in Greece are of extremely poor quality, based on data older than 9 years, have significant omissions and do not include a full analysis of the impacts on local infrastructure, economy and tourism.
Supporting material: [1]
Exclusion of Community Input
Views of local communities were not sought during the EIAs preparation. Public consultation is short and not well publicized. Reports are very long, written in scientific jargon and often many years old, thus obsolete. In many cases communities and municipal authorities were not informed in time or at all about the public consultation on their own areas.
Privatization of Public Land
The Poay plan gives the region -forests, coastal areas, beaches- to the exclusive use of fish farming and specifically excludes any other use, such as yachting, fishing or habitation. Fish farms themselves have sole responsibility for managing the area including environmental control and further expansion onto public land. Local government is excluded from overseeing land use and farm expansion.
Illegal Use of Land
Fish farms on Poros and Aitoloakarnania make illegal use of land-based facilities. According to the demolition protocols issued the company must demolish their illegal facilities on Poros and restore the site at its own expense. Also, many fish farms on the coast of Aitoloakarnania and the Ionian Echinades Islands operate on land owned by municipalities or private individuals without approval.
Destruction of our Environment for Pennies
Companies lease vast areas for shockingly low fees. On Poros and Salamina they pay only €12.50 per month per stremma. This minimal rent covers only a small fraction of the occupied area. On Poros, they will only pay for 300 out of 2,870 stremmata allocated to them; an absurdly low cost of €1.03 per stremma per month.
