🔴 Invasive pufferfish ravage Crete fishing; losses average €8,500 per vessel yearly
Pufferfish spreading across Greece since 2005 are destroying nets and depleting commercial fish stocks. The species, which entered via the Suez Canal, has no natural Mediterranean predators and can bite through fishing equipment.
Fisherman Alexis Charalampakis: "They ate the fish and cut through the rope. After just five days of use I have to throw it away and buy new nets."
Marine biologist Nota Peristeraki (Hellenic Centre for Marine Research) estimates average annual losses at €8,500 per fishing vessel.