Campaigners from the Healthy Seas Initiative are to carry out the first-ever live clean-up of abandoned fishing gear from a protected area of the Greek island of Santorini.
The June 8 initiative is being backed by the Italian fabric manufacturer Carvico SpA and the Cousteau Divers to support the creation of the first marine protected area of the popular Greek island.
Cousteau Divers initiated and supervised the Santorini project from 2011, working with the Hellenic Center for Marine Research to study Santorini’s ecosystems.
The Santorini Marine Reserve was first envisioned in 2010 by Pierre-Yves Cousteau and Apostolos Stylianopoulos of the Atlantis Dive Centre.
In 2017, the MPA Association was created to foster cooperation between authorities, locals and fishermen to protect nature and those who make a living from fishing, as stocks are slowly depleted due to overfishing.
In a survey conducted in 2007-2008 it was found that the amount of fish in the Cyclades region is very low compared to other areas of the Mediterranean.
On World Oceans Day on June 8, the Cousteau Divers and diving partner Ghost Fishing with the support of Atlantis Dive Center will remove fishing nets from Santorini waters.
The fishing gear collected from the sea bed will be regenerated into ECONYL yarn by Aquafil and then used by Carvico for the production of swimwear.
The organizers have created an event on Facebook where the mission will be livestreamed (www.facebook.com/events/169288210455119).
The mission is under the auspices of the Municipality of Thira and the Goulandris Natural History Museum, and exclusively sponsored by Carvico.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
