PRESS RELEASE - Abandoned Fish Farm Removed from Saronic Gulf in Major Cleanup Operation
Methana, Greece | November 12, 2025
Key Highlights
- A joint operation between the Healthy Seas Foundation and the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation with a range of international and national partners successfully removed an abandoned fish farm from the Saronic Gulf.
- Over 40 tons of marine litter were recovered—including plastic cages, fishing nets, buoys, and sunken boats—filling 12 industrial containers, plus additional waste collected during a nearby beach cleanup.
- Great part of the recovered materials will be recycled with partner organizations, including transformation of fishing nets and rings into new products.
In a joint operation led by the Healthy Seas Foundation and the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, a significant cleanup of an abandoned fish farm was carried out in the Saronic Gulf near Methana—highlighting a shared commitment to restoring marine ecosystems and addressing neglected sources of pollution.
This project fits within both organizations’ broader missions: it is part of the Healthy Seas Foundation’s Operation Ghost Farms initiative, launched in 2021 with the support of Hyundai Motor Europe, to tackle pollution from abandoned aquaculture sites across Greece, with Methana marking the fifth intervention to date. It also contributes to the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation’s Saronikos Project, a long-term effort to map and restore the marine environment of the Saronic Gulf.
Abandoned aquaculture sites, or “ghost farms,” are a lesser-known but highly impactful source of marine pollution. The Methana site, left to deteriorate following license revocation, had become a floating scrapyard: 18 industrial fish rings, nets, tires, pipes, and various plastics cluttered the sea and surrounding coast.
A New Chapter in Collaboration
The Methana cleanup marked the beginning of a new partnership between the Healthy Seas Foundation and the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, known for its large-scale coastal restoration projects and marine conservation work in Greece. The operation was carried out with the support of the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation’s operational vessel “Typhoon”.
This co-led initiative brings together the international experience of the Healthy Seas Foundation and the regional expertise and assets of the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation.
Partners and Impact
This project was carried out under the auspices of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Greece and was assigned by the Decentralized Administration of Attica.
The Healthy Seas Foundation is proud to have the continued support of Hyundai Motor Europe, which has partnered with Healthy Seas since 2021 and supported all five ghost farm cleanup missions and related educational programs and awareness raising activities to date.
We extend our gratitude to the volunteer technical divers of Ghost Diving, who worked tirelessly to detach fish farming rings and nets, survey the underwater debris, and film the underwater operation.
Associated partners include: Ghost Diving, Aquafil, Diopas, Ozon, the European Outdoor Education Hub, Odyssey Outdoor Activities, and DOTANK Plus (impact strategy and project development).
Recovery and Recycling
The total amount of marine litter recovered during the mission reached 40.1 tons, including:
- 30.8 tons of plastic cages (HDPE)
- 2.5 tons of fishing nets
- 1.6 tons of Styrofoam
- 5.2 tons of other materials such as metal cages, buoys, and the two sunken boats
All materials combined and cut filled 12 industrial containers.
Fishing nets will be sorted and, when suitable, sent to Aquafil to be regenerated into ECONYL® yarn together with other discarded nylon. Other materials, such as HDPE pipes and plastic components, will be sent to local recycling facilities.
Bonus Cleanup: Cleaning up a Nearby Beach
Following the early completion of the ghost farm recovery, a spontaneous beach cleanup was organized on Saturday, involving 21 participants from the Typhoon crew and the Healthy Seas team. In just three hours, they removed 16 large bags of waste from a highly polluted beach near the cleanup site. The litter collected was a mix of debris from the fishing industry—including nets, ropes, degraded fish farm rings, and buoys with exposed polystyrene—as well as general plastic waste such as straws, bottle caps, and packaging films. Most of the materials were heavily degraded by sun and salt, at risk of crumbling into microplastics as they were handled.
Education & Awareness
This year, the Healthy Seas Foundation extended its educational program, reaching 435 students and professionals through 8 education events in Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the UK. Among them were all the students of the local kindergarten and primary school in Methana, who took part in an outdoor activity focused on marine litter and ocean conservation, organized in collaboration with the European Outdoor Education Hub.
This joint operation in Methana demonstrates how cross-sector collaboration can effectively address complex environmental challenges, from marine pollution to coastal restoration.
About the Healthy Seas Foundation
The Healthy Seas Foundation is dedicated to safeguarding the world’s oceans through cleanups, education, and prevention. Since 2013, the organization has collected over 1,228 tons of marine litter (2013-2024) with the help of more than 550 volunteers and 150 partners.
About the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation
The Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation was established in 2016 in order to act as a catalyst for important issues concerning Greece and Hellenism. Its action focuses on the protection of the environment, the support of employment and micro-entrepreneurship as well as the fostering of initiatives which defend the common good.
* the infogarphic was updated from the time of the press release to include two education events that were not included at the time of the release.
