“Once destroyed, these forests may take decades or even centuries to recover,” said the marine scientist, who has worked on corals in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Pacific.
“No one doubts that cutting down a forest is an ecological disaster. The same is true for animal forests,” Bramanti said.
Setting an example
By banning bottom trawling around Fournoi, Bramanti hopes Greece will set an example for other Mediterranean countries, he said.
“We must act quickly, because these are among the last ecosystems still untouched by climate change,” given that they are located at depths greater than 70 meters, he said.
“And we risk losing them before we even truly understand them.”
But the measure has left industrial fishing professionals fuming.
There are around 220 bottom trawlers in Greece, and sector representatives complain restrictions on their activity are excessive.
“We were not invited to any kind of discussion on this matter,” said Kostas Daoultzis, head of the trawler cooperative at the northern port of Nea Michaniona, one of the country’s main fish markets.