Currently the Greek central government is attempting in an illegal and anti-constitutional way to impose industrial fish farming on a gigantic scale in Greek marine waters by declaring several areas as those of organized aquaculture development without any consideration given to local societies or any form of environmental impact assessment or other relevant studies by which to justify this. It has also effectivelly given over all marine, freshwater and land areas of Greece to the aquaculture industry since a 2014 legislation about this came in effect. It has licensed the installation of farms in other areas using similar manipulative strategies in the past.
The main stakeholders benefiting from this are the large industrial fish farming companies that have been scientifically proven to rob the ecosystem and damage it irreversibly. The government believes that in the case of Kalamos and Kastos two islands that are the jewels of the Ionian sea with beautiful waters and with several threatened species like the Mediterranean seal and with the main source of local income tourism and traditional forms of fishing, that the main activity that we should have as the driving force of our economy in the future should be industrial fish farming. For this reason it includes all of the waters surrounding our islands in it. To this aggression we react dynamically we the inhabitants and friends of the island but also defenders of basic collective human rights and off course friends of the environment.
Parallel to all of this in the waters of Kalamos Island there is an already existing farm that does not meet any internationally agreed criteria of sustainability that recently submitted a study for a new licence that if approved will increase its production. This study has absolutely no analysis with which to justify any long term sustainability whatsoever or environmental impact assessment in a scientific way and particularly via some form of mathematical or statistical analysis.Following this discovery along with the recent discovery of studies from inhabitants in the international literature that prove that fish from these cages escape mixing with wild fish thereby compromising the long term productivity of the ecosystem irreversibly it is self evident that it must be removed from these waters.
The most important point with respect to the whole issue is that in a country that is supposed to be democratic and an official member of the European Union a spatial planning policy is under way in an outrageously rapid rate, illegally and in obvious collaboration with large aquaculture economic interests.
It is important to realize that this is against the people, democracy in general and the environment and that it should not pass not only for us and for the sake of global biodiversity part of which is directly threatened but because this is the beginning of worse analogous plans not just by the Greek but also other governments in the future.
Therefore we invite you to vote in favor of removal of the existing fish farm in the waters of Kalamos and against the characterization of the waters of Kalamos and Kastos island as areas for organized development of industrial aquaculture that is under way through this joint ministerial decision and stop the blatant violation of basic human rights such as clean water and air for the sake of profit of large corporation and of the corruption of the state and its politicians.
