Initiative launched fishermen of Amorgos a few years ago to ensure the sustainability of coastal fisheries and marine environment protectiontakes, after many years of effort, an institutional form. Through a memorandum of cooperation signed yesterday, local fishermen, Amorgos municipality, two ministries, two environmental organizations and the Agricultural University of Athens are making specific commitments to study the island’s marine environment and identify areas where fishing will be controlled. .

OUR Amorgora Initiative started on the island almost ten years ago. The island’s coastal fishermen drew up a fishery management plan, which they submitted to the relevant authorities (although it was not approved) and decided not to fish in April and May, the spawning months, but instead to clean the outlying shores of debris.

On Monday, this initiative entered a new phase with the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the (responsible for fisheries) Ministry of Rural Development, the General Secretariat of the Aegean, the municipality, the local fishing club “Chozoviotissa”, Cyclades. Conservation Foundation, Blue Marine Foundation and Athens Agricultural University. Objective: “to create a generic conservation and management proposal designed from the outset to offer fishermen medium-term benefits as well as high transport and reproduction potential in a number of other coastal and island areas.” .

reproduction zones

The initiative (together with scientific advisor Vangelis Paravas) is scientifically framed by the Agricultural University Fisheries Study to quantify and qualitatively assess the distribution and abundance of fish in Posidonia grasslands and other coastal habitats in the three proposed areas. fishermen of Amorgos. The goal is to identify the most suitable areas for use as “maternity” or spawning grounds for fish and crustaceans (eg lobsters) and to study the distribution of invasive species.

“The Amorgos Fishermen’s Initiative is one of the few examples in the Mediterranean where management starts with the collective and partnership cooperation of the competent authorities, and the memorandum of cooperation is practical proof. The goal of this collective effort is to protect the fishing opportunities of small coastal fishermen by delimiting protection zones and limiting fishing effort,” says Stefanos Kalogirou, Associate Professor at the Agricultural University of Athens and scientific director of fisheries research.