ronto
03-10-2005, 13:46
In May 2004 a group of us went Island hopping in Greece. The first island we stayed at was Spetses just off the South West mainland of Greece, and just two hours by Flying Dolphin from the port of Pireas.
My wife and myself both liked Spetses. It was relatively quite compared to the more popular Greek Islands and the Greek people are warm, welcoming and extremely helpful. Their command of English is excellent and their food second to none and caters for most tastes.
Based on the above, we decided we would return for a later Summer holiday this year and spend the whole week on Spetses.
During our first visit I noticed that the local people fished the harbours and coast and so I decided to take a small telescopic rod and light tackle and try my hand with the local Mullet and Sea Bream.
What I didn’t notice on our first visit was just how few fish there were around the island, and the local people and restaurant owners were catching anything in order to make a living or put on their meal plates.
Everyday we would walk a couple of kilometres out of the main town to a quite beach, a journey that took us along the harbour and local coast line, and as we walked I would check what the locals were catching and to see if there was any evidence of fish in the warm blue waters.
Sadly, there were very few and what there were very small indeed. Every day we would see the same people out trying to catch the odd octopus or squid, but its was their desperate tactics to catch the small fish that prevented me from putting a line in the water and harming what was already an ecological disaster.
Essential they would cast out using a bubble float, with a treble hook on which they had baited one hook with a small lump of bread. They would wait for the small fish to gather around the bread and then they would strike, hoping to foul hook one of the fish. Most fish I saw caught this way were belly hooked and their size was a couple of inches long.
Alternatively they would wrap a lump of bread with treble hooks and cast it on the water and wait for the small fish to get caught on one of the barbs as they darted to and from the lethal bait.
One method, employed by the local children was the use of a short handled landing net. They would sink the net into the water and then throw bread onto the water. Once the small fish gathered around the bread they would raise the net quickly around the unsuspecting fish.
Meanwhile the local boat fishermen would set of in their small boats and a barrel full of drift nets, but when they returned later in the day their catches amounted to a handful of Sardines and the odd sea bream.
I read before I went to Greece that in some areas the local fishermen are so desperate that they have resorted to fishing by explosives, stunning and killing anything that swims.
The local fish market had five stalls, but only one was ever open, and on that were probably a couple of kilo’s of Sardines and sad pile of small fish that measured no more that three inches in length.
Similarly, the refrigerated viewing cabinets at the entrance to most restaurants were empty and switched off, but the real clue to the disaster was in the prices. Typically, sea bream was priced at 55 euros per kilo. That’s an incredible £18 per pound!
If our Fisheries Minister’s want evidence of what over fishing can do and what to expect if it goes unchecked then they should visit the Greek Islands.
My wife and myself both liked Spetses. It was relatively quite compared to the more popular Greek Islands and the Greek people are warm, welcoming and extremely helpful. Their command of English is excellent and their food second to none and caters for most tastes.
Based on the above, we decided we would return for a later Summer holiday this year and spend the whole week on Spetses.
During our first visit I noticed that the local people fished the harbours and coast and so I decided to take a small telescopic rod and light tackle and try my hand with the local Mullet and Sea Bream.
What I didn’t notice on our first visit was just how few fish there were around the island, and the local people and restaurant owners were catching anything in order to make a living or put on their meal plates.
Everyday we would walk a couple of kilometres out of the main town to a quite beach, a journey that took us along the harbour and local coast line, and as we walked I would check what the locals were catching and to see if there was any evidence of fish in the warm blue waters.
Sadly, there were very few and what there were very small indeed. Every day we would see the same people out trying to catch the odd octopus or squid, but its was their desperate tactics to catch the small fish that prevented me from putting a line in the water and harming what was already an ecological disaster.
Essential they would cast out using a bubble float, with a treble hook on which they had baited one hook with a small lump of bread. They would wait for the small fish to gather around the bread and then they would strike, hoping to foul hook one of the fish. Most fish I saw caught this way were belly hooked and their size was a couple of inches long.
Alternatively they would wrap a lump of bread with treble hooks and cast it on the water and wait for the small fish to get caught on one of the barbs as they darted to and from the lethal bait.
One method, employed by the local children was the use of a short handled landing net. They would sink the net into the water and then throw bread onto the water. Once the small fish gathered around the bread they would raise the net quickly around the unsuspecting fish.
Meanwhile the local boat fishermen would set of in their small boats and a barrel full of drift nets, but when they returned later in the day their catches amounted to a handful of Sardines and the odd sea bream.
I read before I went to Greece that in some areas the local fishermen are so desperate that they have resorted to fishing by explosives, stunning and killing anything that swims.
The local fish market had five stalls, but only one was ever open, and on that were probably a couple of kilo’s of Sardines and sad pile of small fish that measured no more that three inches in length.
Similarly, the refrigerated viewing cabinets at the entrance to most restaurants were empty and switched off, but the real clue to the disaster was in the prices. Typically, sea bream was priced at 55 euros per kilo. That’s an incredible £18 per pound!
If our Fisheries Minister’s want evidence of what over fishing can do and what to expect if it goes unchecked then they should visit the Greek Islands.