In late February, a large black plastic object appeared in the Ionian Sea near the Greek island of Ithaca, startling winter swimmers and passers-by. Fishermen and maritime professionals immediately recognized it: a cage from an abandoned fish farm. The debris, which threatened boat safety especially at night, was towed to Kaminias beach by the coast guard and pulled ashore with help from the environmental organization Healthy Seas.
"Many ships pass by the spot, so it is dangerous not only for the safety of the boats but also for people," said Veronica Mikos, head of Healthy Seas. The cage, she noted, did not originate from Ithaca's two former fish farms, which had been cleaned up years earlier. Instead, it came from a farm off the coast of Aetolia-Acarnania in mainland Greece. After detaching, the owner failed to report it, and the cage drifted for two months before reaching Ithaca.
Ithaca's mayor, Dionysis Stanitsas, told Euronews that the municipality lacks the resources to remove such large debris. "We managed to get rid of the fish farms that were abandoned on the island. They were cleaned up by Healthy Seas three or four years ago," he said. "But pieces that came off the fish farms ended up in the sea, where they obstruct navigation. We have frequent occurrences like this, and this time the cage was too big."
A Recurring Environmental Crisis
This is not an isolated incident. Euronews has reported on Ithaca's abandoned fish farms in 2022 and 2024, when volunteer divers removed tonnes of "ghost nets" and other debris. The entrepreneurs who closed their businesses left nets, iron cages, and plastic structures in the sea, with no consequences despite supposed regulatory oversight. Over time, these materials have polluted the marine environment and trapped local fish.
Healthy Seas began its cleanup efforts in Ithaca in 2021, with volunteer divers from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Greece, Lebanon, and Hungary. Yet the problem persists. A building from one of the old fish farms continues to decay, releasing wood, plastic, and Styrofoam into the sea. In 2026, the roof deteriorated further, adding more debris.
"Honestly, five years ago we were very happy. We thought we had solved a long-standing problem, so it was all over," said Mikos. "But shortly afterwards we started getting calls from all over Greece. There were abandoned fish farms everywhere. Then we realised that this was a phenomenon and not an isolated case. The authorities are cooperating, but they often move slowly and we have a lot of red tape."
The municipality has informed the Region of the Ionian Islands and the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy, but no action has been taken. Government departments claim they cannot intervene because the sites are private property, despite evidence of ongoing pollution. This regulatory gap mirrors broader challenges in Greece, as seen in the Greek Parliament's recent stripping of immunity from 13 MPs in an EU farm subsidy fraud investigation, highlighting systemic enforcement failures.
"The system needs to change," Mikos argued. "Laws exist, but they are not enforced as they should be. The owner of the abandoned fish farm should have ensured that nets and cages are removed and cleaned. If not, the competent authorities must take action. It is a question of capacity, money and skills. It is not easy to remove an entire fish farm."
As the Ionian Sea continues to suffer from abandoned aquaculture infrastructure, the case of Ithaca underscores a wider European problem: the gap between environmental legislation and its implementation. Without stronger enforcement and accountability, similar debris will keep endangering both marine life and maritime safety across the continent.
