Taxiarhis Bisbikas is a professional fisherman and an indivisible part of the “Fishing For Litter” program, that shows us different aspects of his work experience at the sea and how demanding it is.

Mr Bisbikas is from Lesvos, he’s 45 years old, he’s occupied with fishing for almost 30 years. He began fishing as a teenager, along with his father. He feels like he belongs in the sea, kind of like it “gave birth to him”, like he mentions. He briefly talks to an iSea representative about his life as a fisherman and his opinion about the aquatic litter.

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

TΒ: I began fishing professionally when I was 15 years old, mostly beacause I come from a fishermen family.

R: Could you describe a day in the sea?

ΤΒ: I’m following the same routine I’ve had all these years. Everyday is quite the same and when it comes to an end, we take the trawl out of the water and pack up everything. There’s a lot of stress, mainly because we’re scared for a possible damage of our tools and equipment and also, for the Greek-Turkish issues that have occured the last couple of years. 

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

TB: The quantity of litter hasn’t changed a lot over the years. Larger amounts of waste have been found in the northern side of the island and majority of litter is plastic. 

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

ΤΒ: We found a large clay container that weighted 1.5- 2 tons and it needed special treatment in order to drag it out of the water. 

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

TB: The sea means so much to us, we were born there, we were raised there and our living depends on it, for many years. The protection of the sea is vital. 

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

TB: Something simple but not given, “To protect and respect the sea”. 

iSea’s «Fishing For Litter» program 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 program, the professional fishermen who actively support the effort of collecting and recording aquatic litter from the sea all over the country, talk about the nature of their profession and share their experience and thoughts about the program.

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