October 17th 2014.
Fisheries
in Greece: Patterns, Trends, Perspectives
A public
information meeting organized by our Fisheries Department of IMBRIW (Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters) – HCMR*
Impressive day, although I arrived late, at noon.... I have never before been to a public
meeting where 30 distinguished scientists and experts gave a summary
of their work within a open-to-the-public day-event. And I am sure this is a first of its kind for fisheries in Greece: where the issue focused on describing a truly problematic national fisheries situation. Greece's fisheries and the sea's biological riches have severe problems and face severe threats. So this meeting was a real 'marine environmental gift'.
It was a resounding success. The amphitheater hall at
the Hellenic Ministry of Environment on Mesogeion street in Athens was chalk full with
fish-interested people. The meeting begun at about 9:00 and ended nearly on time, at
about 18:30. It was impressive, how many people were so engaged in what
these odd scientists and environmentalists had to say. And we also heard from major NGOs and a fisher's prospective as well. All in a very long day.
I'm sorry I have a limited selection of photos; but here's what I did in snap-shot form. Apologies for the quirky commentary; I am trying to be humorous!
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| HCMR legends Kavadas (at L) and Machias (way to the R). |
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| NGO environmentalist Ms Roumelioti (far Left) mentions the highly charged word "overfishing"!! |
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| Smith of HCMR - Crete (on Left) discovered "deep and sensitive ecosystems".... excellent presentations - no kidding!. |
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| Seriously dressed Vassilopoulou (of HCMR) and Tsikliras (A.Univ.Thessaloniki) facilitated a fast-paced organization. (Sorry I don't know the pretty lady's name at Left). |
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| Maravelias of HCMR commented on ....fish species biomass declining ("look at black line" [below]...). |
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| Excellent PPT slide by Maravelias. Really one of the best presentations - bravo! |
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| Standing room only even after midday at the Ministry of Environment Amphitheater on a Friday. |
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| Some well-known faces and youth too in the audience: Yes most are scientists and immediate research stakeholders. |
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| Tsikliras (AUT) and Moutopoulos (Messolonghi Tech Univ) on Righ with the MIKE. Young Greeks who know fisheries well. |
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| Stergiou (our Director) with big fish fisheries expert Tserpes (HCMR Crete, at Right). |
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| Koutsikopoulos (Univ. Patras), Fafouti (newspaper lady from Vima Science), Machias, Stergiou, Tserpes. |
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| Zannes from the island of Andros. A fisherman who really knows how to express overfishing impacts. |
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| Zannes: "I'm not doing it for the environment, its for myself, my kids". Eloquent speech by the 'Fisherman'. |
*Our Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters has two sections (or departments I would like to say): "Fisheries" and "Inland Waters": check us out at: http://imbriw.hcmr.gr/en/
HCMR stands for Hellenic Centre for Marine Research; it is a public research organization, so anything I say in this blog represents only my personal views and interpretations, nothing to do with my day job. Thanks.
