Konstantinos Karafillis is a fisherman that recently joined the “Fishing for Litter” project and he’s fishing along with his brother in the North Thracian Sea. He’s 36 years old and the fourth generation of fisherman in his family. 

R: How many years have you worked as a fisherman? How did your occupation with fishing begin?

KK: I’m the 4th generation of fishermen in my family together with my brother, as you understand I belong to a fairly old fishing family. In the beginning we were involved in coastal fishing, but since 2006 and after a boat was bought, I have been involved in medium fishing.

R: Could you describe a day in the sea?

KK: Our day always starts once we get informed about the weather and choose the fishing spot, but now after checking the demand for fish in the market, something we didn’t particularly do in previous years. We usually fish around 4 to 6 baskets a day and return to the port to unload our fish, late in the afternoon. 

R: What differences do you notice regarding the amount of waste compared to the past?

KK: Over the years, I’ve noticed that the waste that could potentially be thrown away by other fishing vessels has significantly decreased. But unfortunately we still have a big problem with single use plastics, plastic containers used for octopus traps as well as cement blocks.

R: What kind of waste you’ve collected has made the biggest impression on you?

KK: Probably, mine from some kind of warship.

R: What does the sea and its protection mean to you?

KK: The sea is a sweet germ, when I’m working, I keep wishing to go home, but as soon as the shift ends, I look at the sea and think about when I will go back to it. By protecting the sea, I feel like I’m protecting my future and of course the future of my children.

R: What is the message you want to pass along the world?

KK: There is only one thing I would like to convey to the world and that is: “Respect for the sea”. I think this message includes everything that I’d like to pass along and of course its protection and especially by us who make a living from it. After all, this was one of the reasons I decided to participate in the “Fishing for Litter” project of the Laskaridis Foundation in collaboration with iSea.

iSea’s «Fishing For Litter» project is implemented for 6 years in a row, in lots of different areas in Greece, in collaboration with the A C Laskaridis Charitable Foundation. The ambassadors of this project, the professional fishers who actively support the effort of collecting and recording marine litter from the sea all over the country, talk about the nature of their job and share their experience and thoughts about the project.

We would like to thank all the fishers who cooperated with us, for a more effective implementation of the “Fishing For Litter” project and give a personal touch to this effort.