Dare to Challenge : “Life Below Water”

Our team has chosen goal 14. This task is named “Life Below Water”. As a result we focused on matters such as sea pollution and the extinction of endangered species.

We interviewed three fishermen based on the island of Kefallonia.

• At first, we talked with Mr. Gerasimos and his son Nikos whose family has been bonded to the sea for decades. Mr. Gerasimos passed down the profession from his father who was a fisherman as well. He made it clear that through fishing he makes a living, given the fact there are not many other ways to do so in an island apart from tourism. Afterwards, he referred to some techniques they use while they fish. Even though he does not approve them, Mr. Gerasimos admitted he has used some illegal methods such as over passing the limits of fishing zones and using explosives in order to ensure they will collect more fishes.
• Nikos, Mr. Gerasimos’ son pointed out that as long as he lives in Kefallonia permanently he was forced to follow his father’s profession as he realized he would have a small but standard income at least.
• The third person who was interviewed is named Christos. He works as a builder and fishes as an amateur especially during the winter months when he has plenty of free time. Christos underlined that even though he has heard of fishermen’s use illegal fishing methods he has not witnessed yet any of them. Otherwise, he would report it to the local authorities because he believes illegal fishing is putting under threat some endangered species such as turtles Carreta-carreta which can be found all over the Ionian Sea.
• Our team’s Instagram page: @sstopillegalfishing
• Our team is consisted of : Lazaros Andrianos Dimitris Plastourgos Nefeli Staikoura Sofia Maz Ilias Solomos