Greek divers haul up ghost nets destroying marine life

SAPIENTZA ISLAND, Greece (Reuters) -Divers off the coast of Sapientza Island in southern Greece have launched a determined effort to remove "ghost nets" — abandoned fishing gear that silently strangles marine ecosystems.

Draped like curtains over the seabed, these nets trap unsuspecting sea creatures and slowly disintegrate into microplastics, poisoning the waters and suffocating life.

Attaching inflatable lift bags to the heavy, tangled nets, the divers worked with precision and urgency.

"The ghost net basically creates a dead zone — a dead zone in which nothing lives," said volunteer Alexander Stavrakoulis, scanning the horizon. "Life is becoming obsolete. This is why it is so important for these ghost nets to be removed as soon as possible.”

Sapientza, known for its pristine waters and rich marine biodiversity, is now one of many sites threatened by the legacy of farm fishing.

Environmental group Aegean Rebreath launched the cleanup to remove ghost nets from known hotspots before they cause irreversible damage.

Invisible to the casual swimmer, the nets drift with currents, entangling everything in their path.

As they degrade, they become microscopic threats, plastics too small to see but toxic enough to enter the food chain.

"We cannot just stand there and watch sea life go extinct,” said Stavrakoulis. "We have a responsibility to act. This is a way to give something back to nature.”

Aegean Rebreath founder George Sarellakos, 46, said decades-old gaps in Greece’s legislation had allowed abandoned fish farms and discarded gear to devastate marine habitats unchecked.

"Years pass but there isn't any targeted policy for this phenomenon,” he said. “What we need is a concrete legal framework that stops this from happening again."

(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Ivana Sekularac, editing by Patricia Reaney)