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Environmental impact of fish farming in Amvrakikos Gulf

category greece / turkey / cyprus | environment | news report author Thursday April 28, 2005 12:11author by dmitri - OADE- Greeceauthor email outetheos at yahoo dot com dot au

Greek anarchists on the effects industrial fish farming is having on the environment

This is another leaflet concerning local environmental and other related issues produced and distributed widely by the comrades of the Federation of Anarchists of Western Greece (OADE) last year.

Dear citizens of Vonitsa and Amfilochia (1), residents of neighbouring regions and Prefectures of Preveza and Arta (2)

In an effort of our Federation regarding the environmental question, after an intervention we organised for the pisciculture [fish farming] in Astakos, we logically must touch a little bit the problem of destruction of Amvrakikos Gulf (3).

This destruction is coming from: a) the pisciculture in the region of Vonitsa, b) petrolic installations of E.K.O. (4) and Shell, c) the waste by the industrial agricultural extents and d) the sewages of the populated regions.

A. The organised political interests through their friendly high standing individuals and the companies of pisciculture in the altar of profit accumulation, founded in the region of Vonitsa 3 or 4 pisciculture units with some of them to be only 5 metres in distance from the coast. Mr Tzefrios, Tsolis and Masouras (5) (who is also the deputy mayor of Vonitsa) not even maintain the law of the distance of installation of cages from the coast. These pisciculture «gentlemen» received in subsidies and allowances hundreds of thousands of Euros in 2002, something that was their main aim. But you have in your mind dear residents, that if they were not receiving this money they could not develop their enterprises.

Think in which balance would be the environment if you had been self-organised with your own fishermen co-operatives, if the subsidies were given for the growth of such initiatives.

But unfortunately the power functions based on the favour of the private capital which they use for the appointment of their electoral planning. If you had information about the increase of your income from the fishery, then it would exist a case that the agriculture and the livestock-farming be your second and third profession.

When the pisciculture gentlemen break the cages, according to the description of amateur fishermen, the fishes of the units are coming out in the open sea and they transform the native species of the Gulf in genetic monsters, overgrown with other colour etc., etc.

But let these gentlemen answer us:

1. For the quantities of ammonia and nitrogen that throwing on the cages when no control exist.

2. For the quantities of rotted mud that settle down from the mentioned above substances and the excrements of fishes.

3. For the quantities of coal per ton of production of fishes.

4. For the quantities of total nitrogen and phosphor.

5. Who makes control for the eutrophication of wild fishes from the mentioned above substances?

6. How much quantities of toxic hydrogen sulphide are produced by the mentioned before mud?

7. For the quantities of antibiotics and medicines in the flesh of fishes.

8. Why in Greece are given authorisations for more tons of fishes than in Japan, Canada or Finland?

9. Who makes the control for the chemical constitution of content of wet nurses as well as the produced fishes.

It is certain that all the control process is a joke

Let these gentlemen tell us how they established their units in these regions when they have been characterised to archaeological exploration and who «gentlemen» of the central power they paid for this. Let them answer us if they observed the relevant legislation about relocation of cages after the expiry of interval time that the law reports. Let them answer where is the area of sanitary burial of their litter as the legislation forecasts. Let them answer if their Albanians and Pakistani workers are secured and how many hours are working. Let them answer according in whish law their guards have weapons. But what they can tell us these gentlemen of pisciculture when they do not observe even the capitalistic legislation?

You have self-organised yourselves and remove these gentlemen of pisciculture, because they offer nothing in the place and only they take from it, your own place.

B. Regarding the petrolic installations E.K.O. and Shell they are the wound of Amvrakikos Gulf. The danger for the destruction of the Gulf is very big, by only an accident of a boat that transports oil. The decisions of Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania on the authorisation of operation, extension of their activities, were off-hand and without no thorough environmental study. Surely the Prefecture of Aitoloakarnanias in the present time succumbed in the companies but it will apologise in the future if a boat with petrolic charge outpours in the Gulf. Up to now we are lucky that after clumsy groundings of boats we did not have an ecological destruction.

Shell and E.K.O. are the time bombs of Amvrakikos. When they will explode it is known only by the clock of chance.

C. The political power after made you economically rendered and sent you in the level of destitute, leaves the situation as it is regarding the use of big quantities of fertilizers and pesticides even if they destroy the environment and it makes you uninformed and consequently subsidises you for biological (organic) farming and this because the subsidies should be given in its own friends (industrial fertilizers and pesticides). It must be reported here that each year are used in the farming round the Amvrakikos Gulf 31.400 tons of fertilizers and 300 tons of insecticides.

D. You wonder how much cities allocate biological cleaning, that does not allocate no one, and consequently how much sewages fall in the Gulf. Deductively the Federation of Anarchists of Western Greece (O.A.D.E.) and for the 4 above factors (pollution) but also for the living standards of the residents of this region proposes the self-organisation of the citizens with social and economic aims for the upgrade of their life. If the circumstances will require we will come back with concrete documents and decisions taken by State bodies and the local government (6) (and we have already those) in order to prove the hidden devalorisation of your life in the name of somebody’s interests.

SELF-ORGANISE FOR THE UPGRADE OF YOUR LIFE!

Federation of Anarchists of Western Greece (OADE)

May 2004

Notes 1. Vonitsa and Amfilochia. Country towns in the Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania in Western Greece. 2. Preveza and Arta. Prefectures in North-Western Greece. 3. Amvrakikos Gulf. Belongs to the Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania. 4. E.K.O. State owned oil and fuel company. 5. Tzefrios, Tsolis and Masouras. Local pisciculture businessmen. 6. Local government in Greece called Local Self-Government (which is not actually)

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