How much courage does it take for an ordinary fisherman to stop fishing completely in the best fishing grounds off his island, with the aim of one day seeing the stock there healthy and abundant again? And yet, that is exactly what not one, but approximately 40 members of the Amorgos Professional Fishing Association “I Chozoviotissa” are doing as part of the Amorgorama initiative. For their efforts, the association received the Sustainability Award at the Gastronomos Quality Awards.

The Amorgorama initiative was born mainly out of despair. “For more than ten years, we have seen fewer and fewer fish in our nets,” explains the association’s president, Michalis Krosman. The reasons are many: one is overfishing – which, as the fishermen admit, is partly their own doing. Then there is the changing climate, which has warmed the seas, causing the fish to seek colder waters out in the open ocean. (However, it is in just those waters that the large, non-competing trawlers operate, landing their catch while also damaging the nets of smaller fishing boats.) What’s more, rainfall in the area has also decreased, which means there is less of the nutrient-rich run-off that once lured the fish into shallow areas.

Looking at all these factors, it seemed clear that fishermen had to take action. Moreover, they had to do it on their own, as outside help could not be expected, and so they embarked on a course that was unique in the annals of Greek fisheries, one that can be summarized as follows:

A Temporary Fishing Ban

The fishermen are implementing a complete ban on fishing for all vessels – local and non-local, professional and amateur – within a radius of one nautical mile from the shores around all of Amorgos during the months of April and May, which is fish-spawning season. During these months, the fishermen will carry out a meticulous cleanup of the shallows, removing garbage and plastics in a crowd-funded ecological effort.

A Five-Year Complete Fishing Cessation

For five consecutive years, fishing will cease entirely in the island’s three most important fishing grounds: Nikouria; the inlet of Katapolon; and the area between the islets of Gravoussa and Kalotaritissa. This will give the fish time to reproduce undisturbed – a strategy that’s been proven effective in dramatically increasing fish populations in other parts of the world. At the same time, the fishermen have replaced their nets with ones that have larger mesh sizes, so that they do not catch the young offspring, and that are recyclable.

These measures, undertaken on the initiative of the fishermen themselves, all fall under the umbrella of the Amorgorama project. These actions were launched with the support of the Cyclades Preservation Fund, the Blue Marine Foundation, and the Agricultural University of Athens, organizations which financed and carried out the necessary scientific studies relevant to these efforts, studies which they have presented to the Ministry of Rural Development and Food for wider institutionalization.

Krosman is eager to stress how well the fishermen collaborate, how seriously they have taken the Amorgorama, and the degree of maturity, unity, and determination they have shown to ensure that every action is taken collectively and in coordination. Their initiative quickly gained significant publicity, with major international media reporting on their actions. This has resulted in pressure on the ministry to help officially institutionalize the measures by pushing for a Presidential Decree formalizing the closure of the prohibited areas and establishing the rules for implementing the five-year fishing cessation.

The issuance of such a decree would make the Amorgorama initiative unique in the world, so it’s no surprise that the eyes of both the Greek and the global fishing communities are fixed on Amorgos. “If it succeeds here, it will succeed elsewhere,” says Mr. Krosman. “That is why we say that, for this five-year period, help from the state is needed. Without compensation, no fisherman will be able to survive.”

It is hoped that the award from Gastronomos and the ongoing publicity – both within and beyond Greek borders – will mobilize state support to overcome obstacles and officially back this courageous initiative, which could well become a global model. After all, Amorgorama is certainly a worthy undertaking!

The 17th Quality Awards of Gastronomos were dedicated to the producers of the Cyclades. At a crucial crossroads in the history of the Cyclades, where various circumstances have limited engagement with the primary sector, the awards highlighted the exceptions – those who persist in working the land and tending to livestock, producing cheeses and traditional cured meats, cultivating native varieties, honoring Cycladic traditions, and steadfastly preserving the Cycladic way of life.

This article was previously published in Greek at gastronomos.gr.