Vlasis Athanasiou
Mr. Vlasis Athanasiou, a member of the fishing community an important part of the “Fishing For Litter” project, talks about his professional story and his participation in the project. He sails in the North Aegean Sea, mostly near Thasos, Mt Athos and the Strymonian Gulf.
R: How many years have you worked as a fisherman? How did your occupation with fishing begin?
VA: As a child, I remember myself, being in the fishing boats every summer, and asking the elderly to take me fishing every winter. It was predetermined that I would become a fisherman, as I come from a family of fishers with 3 generations of experience. As we say, the sea “runs in our veins”. As soon as I completed my studies as a chemical engineer I started working as a fisherman.
R: We would like you to describe us a day at sea!
VA: There is not a single fisherman that is not in love with the sea, someone who does another job cannot feel this feeling. I wouldn’t say that everyday life on the boat is “easy peasy”, we have to face the weather conditions, some days are easier but some are really hard. There is for sure, both physical and mental fatigue.
R: What differences do you notice regarding the amount of litter in the sea compared to the past?
VA: People believe that fishing trawlers can only cause destruction. I would say that if we take a look at the seabed/ bottom we would see it cleaner in comparison to the past. People are more (environmentally) sensitized and now, every night you can see the crew from the trawlers emptying all the bins from the boat. I think that in the areas that trawlers fish, the litter is now reduced.
R: What is the strangest type of litter you have removed from the sea?
VA: What should I recall first? Mines, a boat, hand calculators, a DVD player.
R: What does the sea and its protection mean to you?
VA: Sea covers 73% of the Earth’s surface. It’s everyone’s responsibility to protect it. We should all, fishermen and people who do not work in the sea, be conscious about what we discard to the sea. Εverything on Earth is a chain and if it this chain breaks the impact will be serious.
R: What is the message you would like to pass along the world?
VA: Α fisherman’s job is to supply the food market with fish. Although it is important to obey the law and respect the sea.
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.