No fish farm expansion for Poros – a historic decision based on science and common sense!

A committee of the Greek Ministry of the Environment has announced its unanimous decision to cancel fish farm expansion on Poros. What this means is that the extreme plan to expand fish farming 28-fold along 25% of the tiny island's coastline — with a projected production of sea bass and sea bream surpassing that of France — will not go forward. 

Several years ago the people of the Greek island of Poros, south west of Athens, discovered the NOFF website and our films, and got in touch to share resources. We put them in touch with our film makers LowCo, and they flew Mike Sampey and Kirsten Bacon to Poros to make Sanctuary of Poseidon, a film to help their struggle against the Greek Government's plans to hugely expand salmon farming around Greece.

We have just received great news from the Rauch Foundation, backers of Poros' resistance campaign through local community group Katheti:

We are thrilled to announce that a committee of the Greek Ministry of the Environment has announced its unanimous decision to cancel fish farm expansion on Poros. What this means is that the extreme plan to expand fish farming 28-fold along 25% of the tiny island's coastline — with a projected production of sea bass and sea bream surpassing that of France — will not go forward.

In its announcement, the committee gave five reasons for its rejection of expansion on Poros:

1. Incompatibility with the national marine spatial plan, which will be re-written.

2. Public opposition locally and among an additional nine municipal councils in the Argo-Saronic region.

3. Problems identified through Rauch-commissioned analyses of EIAs from Poros (and 11 surrounding regions) identifying key weaknesses including, among other things, outdated data, unsubstantiated sustainability guidelines, excessive scale of the proposed expansion, and lack of public participation in the planning process.

4. Illegal use of land facilities by the fish farms, exposed by Katheti and the municipality in their January 2024 lawsuit.

5. Poros's designation in 2023 as one of three Greek islands selected to become a prototype for environmental sustainability.

This is a major victory for common sense, for local communities, for science, and for the environment. Even more encouraging: in its official explanation of the rejection, the government acknowledged that the entire national aquaculture plan is being revised, including new criteria, zoning locations, and - critically - a commitment to public participation. This is not just a win for Poros, but for every coastal community in Greece that has fought for over 15 years to have its voice heard.

The Rauch Foundation has always operated with the idea that when evidence-based research, cross-sector coalition building, and good information is combined with well-documented resistance and boots on the ground grassroots efforts, huge victories can be achieved.

This positive outcome doesn't belong to any single organization or person — it is the result of long-term, collective effort on the part of the local community, its partners and international allies. The tireless work we continue to observe in communities around the world has been a consistent source of inspiration for us and our work.

Poros has proven what a united and determined community can achieve but this is not the end. Rather we will continue to work to for a fairer and more participatory planning process across Greece, the Mediterranean, and indeed globally.

NOFF is pleased to have played a small part in this triumph, and congratulates Rauch, Katheti and the people of Poros for their determination and well-deserved success. 

They are an inspiration to us all.