Rescued loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta, in Samos
Survived the hook… “Bitten” by Olympic Air
Archipelagos, Institute of Marine Conservation orchestrated the rescue of a young loggerhead turtle, which involved the giving of first aid and transportation of the injured animal to a vet in Athens. The rescue relied on the cooperation of a network of volunteers, comprising of Samos residents, a local veterinarian and members of Archipelagos’ marine research team.
The young turtle was found on Sunday 12th February on Kokkari beach on the north side of Samos Island. Residents of the area who found the turtle contacted Archipelagos to report the incident, which enabled members of the marine research team and local volunteers to go immediately to the site in order to provide first aid.
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New legislation opens the way for intensive aquaculture
Archipelagos and the Municipality of Patmos speak out against a newly passed legislation that opens the way for intensive aquaculture in the region
Archipelagos Institute and the Municipality of Patmos have joined forces to strongly oppose the establishment of fish-farms in the seas of Patmos and the surrounding islands and islets. These potentially large scale fish-farms—made possible as a result of the new legislation passed on aquaculture—threaten to damage, if not destroy, the highly diverse and productive coastal ecosystems of the region. Intensive fish-farming—as practiced for the last couple of decades in the Greek seas—has already directly and negatively impacted the health and productivity ofseas in the region, and inevitably causes significant consequences on fisheries and tourism.
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Dolphin and Turtle Stranded in Samos Storm
During the past few days members of the Archipelagos’ Marine Team responded to the strandings of a juvenile Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and a Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta). These strandings were reported to us by the local port police authorities, as well as members of the Samos Divers Association.
The Common Dolphin was found dead on a beach on the South East of Samos, just off Pythagorio village. It is predicted that it died at sea a couple of days before the team were informed, and was carried ashore by the rough sea conditions. The cause of death was not obvious at the time, so histological samples were taken and sent to the appropriate collaborating laboratories for toxicological analysis.
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Danger of environmental destruction from military exercises on Chios Island.
The planned military exercise by land units of the army during the period between the 24th January and 10th February inst., in the NW Chios island (Melanios region), eastern Aegean Sea, which is conducted with live ammunition “exclusively and strictly in a marine area” (!), insults any meaning of environmental caretaking and countermands the declarations made by Military Command concerning the safeguard of natural habitats and public health during the conduct of military maneuvers by the Armed Forces.
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Archipelagos visits the USA to establish important partnerships
ARCHIPELAGOS VISITS THE USA TO ESTABLISH IMPORTANT PARTNERSHIPS WITH SOME OF THE WORLD’S TOP UNIVERSITIES
Archipelagos, Institute for Marine Conservation has recently conducted working visits at many of the most prominent US universities. The visits resulted in serious plans for project partnerships and collaborations, and mark important developments in the future of research and education on the natural wealth of the Greek seas and islands. The list of universities visited includes: Yale University, Harvard University, Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, Rutgers and George Mason University.
Archipelagos delivered presentations at these universities and met individually with departments, administrative members, faculty and students to discuss the pressing issues for conservation of the Greek Seas and Islands and how the U.S. Universities could get more involved in Archipelagos’ conservation work and efforts. The visits, which drew in overwhelming interest, attracted a wide variety of experts and scientists, specializing in fields such as Environmental Conservation, Biology, Marine Conservation, Renewable Energy, Law and Policy, Computer Science, Greek studies etc.
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ARCHIPELAGOS and the University of the Aegean establish a collaboration
The establishment of a collaboration between Archipelagos, Institute of Marine Conservation, and the University of the Aegean, is an important development for the future of environmental interdisciplinary research in the Aegean. After many months of preparation, in early November both parties signed an agreement, which was approved by the Senate of the Aegean University and the Board of Archipelagos. This is expected to contribute significantly to the global awareness of the unique biodiversity of the Aegean Sea and also to constitute an important growth driver for the island communities.
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Mass stranding of Cuvier’s beaked whales in Corfu
A mass stranding of Cuvier’s beaked whales took place on the western coastline of Corfu (an island in the Ionian Sea, Greece) on the 30th of November, and stranded whales kept reaching the shore in subsequent days and weeks. The whales found in the days that followed the initial mass stranding event, were in an advanced state of sepsis (very decomposed), which strongly suggests these whales died of the same causes as the group that died on the 30th of November.
The number of whales officially recorded dead is thirteen, but according to local authorities and the reports of sightings that they and Archipelagos have received, the actual number of dead whales may be far greater, and may even exceed 50 individuals. However, this has not been officially confirmed, because strong NW winds prevailing at the time made it very difficult to reach many of the reported coastal sites.
On the 30th of November local residents initially encountered beached whales that were still alive. Lacking the necessary experience to effectively respond to the situation, they tried their best to rescue these mammals by getting them to deeper waters. Unfortunately, once the animals were a mile or so off shore, they once again returned to shore, beached, and eventually died. (Attempted rescues to return marine mammals to deeper waters are ideally only carried out by experts and only when the circumstances permit—otherwise a re-beaching or drowning almost always occurs).
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End the blind spending of EU fisheries subsidies
Anastasia Milioiu, Hydrobiologist, Manager & Head Scientist of Archipelagos, IMC and the OCEAN2012 coalition issued the following statement as the European Commission published its proposal for the next fisheries subsidies instrument, the European Fisheries and Maritime Fund (EFMF).
“In 2008 the European Commission identified overcapacity as one of the primary drivers of overfishing, and public subsidies as fueling overcapacity. Yet a recent Commission report showed that many member states do not even assess the overcapacity of their fishing fleets, confirming that public subsidies are being spent blindly. For example, between 2000 and 2008, the EU provided subsidies of €33.5million for the modernisation of the bluefin tuna fleet, which targets a species that is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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Plan for the creation of the first co-managed Fisheries Protected Area in Greece
A research team from Yale travels to Fourni island to assist with the legal aspects of the plan
After many months of preparation, consultation and processing of scientific data, Archipelagos, in close cooperation with local authorities and the local fisheries association, continues designing sustainable fishing zones for Fourni island and creating the first co-managed Fisheries Protected Area in Greece.
Archipelagos has been working closely with the Yale University Law School, Yale Environmental Protection Clinic, to develop a program for the co-managed Fisheries Protected Area, and is currently hosting a group of Yale student researchers here in Greece. These researchers are working on a pro-bono basis. During their visit a series of meetings in Fourni, Samos and Athens have been conducted in order to prepare the relevant study and contribute to the preparation of this project. The research team has also researched other international models for successful fisheries management, in countries with a fishing tradition similar to that in Greece. The Yale team will present a proposal to Archipelagos suggesting the most appropriate ways forward in the next few weeks.
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European Shark Week opens with call to “Make the PUSH” to protect Europe’s sharks
The Shark Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 conservation, scientific and recreational organisations, is launching the fifth annual European Shark Week today by calling on European Union (EU) fisheries ministers to protect sharks from overexploitation and finning - the wasteful practice of slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea.
Member groups of the Shark Alliance, aquariums, dive groups, and other conservation organisations in at least 16 countries across the EU, including Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, will be holding events, filming messages for fisheries ministers, and gathering petition signatures to urge policy makers to resist industry pressure and make the push to protect sharks.
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