FPavlos Belyanis sits in a deck chair, arms thrown over his head, feet sliding back and forth in the sand, watching his grandchildren bathe in his favorite bay. This idyllic landscape has a tranquility to it, thanks to the sense of security that a recently retired truck driver feels.
For the first time, floating barriers were installed across the bay. Crouching, splashing, and crawling, kids never venture beyond that. “Thank you for being there to protect them,” he says, clearly relieved. “When I was a kid, there wasn’t as much danger in this ocean.”
Until last summer, it was thought that the danger lurking beneath the Gulf of Euboia, the body of water that separates the island of Evia from mainland Greece, was limited to the purple jellyfish. Last year, a spike in attacks on swimmers in Chalkida, the island’s bustling capital 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Athens, left pharmacists working overtime with mauve stingers.
Thanks to the climate crisis, the arrival of poisonous long-toothed pufferfish, which can munch on bones, metal and blocks of wood, poses another threat. In an unprecedented step, the Greek Red Cross issued a public health warning in June advising the public to seek emergency medical treatment if bitten by the fish, as its “beak-like jaws” can cause serious injuries and heavy bleeding.
The pufferfish, also known as the blunt-headed pufferfish, is considered the second most poisonous vertebrate on the planet. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The group said the species should never be eaten because its organs and meat contain tetrodotoxin, a deadly neurotoxin. With no known antidote to this poison, this invasive species can kill not only the predators that attack the pufferfish, which have an unparalleled advantage in the food chain, but also the humans who eat it.
“It is our duty and our main concern must be the safety of our people,” said Antonis Spanos, deputy mayor of Chalkida, who oversaw the installation of Greece’s first floating barrier last month. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Spanos, an energetic 40-year-old, belongs to a new breed of determined and aggressive local politicians. He said before the system was approved by the State Research Institute, officials spent months securing funding and conducting a bidding process to ensure the strongest protection was installed.
Antonis Spanos, deputy mayor of Chalkida, stands near the bay where Greece’s first floating barrier was installed. Photo: Helena Smith/Guardian
“The nets will be installed over a 2.5-kilometre stretch of the bay around the bay to provide a carefree summer,” he said. “Last year we had a big problem with jellyfish, but as they say in English, we’re killing two birds with one stone. Now that we have blowfish, we can deal with that.”
The phone at City Hall was constantly ringing with calls from senior citizens asking when the system would be installed. “Just this morning, a woman called and said she felt safe going swimming with her grandchildren for the first time since the pool was built.”
Apparently, Kalkida wasn’t the only one. Nikos Shurialis, 63, who has run the town’s long-time diving school, joined other municipalities in following suit this week by heading out with his team in fast-moving rubber boats to anchor more floating barriers to the ocean floor off the coast further up the bay.
Nikos Shurialis and his team helped install the barrier. Photo: Panagiotis Moshandrou/The Guardian
“I’ve been diving for over 40 years and never thought I’d see the day where I would do something like this,” Chouliris said. “Sea temperatures are steadily rising, which makes the situation we’re currently seeing even more favorable.”
An estimated seven kilometers of floating barriers will be delivered to the region by truck from Athens in the coming weeks.
“I don’t think anything can get through that net, not even pufferfish tusks,” Chouliris said. “It’s very tightly woven and very durable. You’d have to chew on the same spot for a long time to tear it apart, and I don’t think they would do that.”
The spread of is like this Villain Lagocephalus Officials say the entire eastern Mediterranean is falling prey to the aquatic pest. Scientists say the torpedo-shaped species, like lionfish native to the Indo-Pacific region, entered the basin from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal, lured by the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
Cypriot fishermen were the first to report their catches and nets destroyed by inedible invaders. In 2024, Cypriot authorities introduced financial incentives to quell the spread under a government-backed eradication plan, resulting in more than 103 tonnes of yellow-bellied toads being removed from coastal waters.
Caterina Georgiou, the island’s fisheries officer, attributed the species’ prevalence to its “remarkable adaptability” and told local news outlet Sigma that without a census, “it is impossible to draw reliable conclusions about the overall stock or future population trends.” The existence of puffer fish was not a temporary phenomenon, she said, but a new reality that could not be ignored.
Last week, Athens announced a similar “capture” program, offering a reward of €5.33 (£4.57) for every kilogram of toxic material handed over to authorities.
Similarly, Greek fishermen whose nets and fishing gear have been destroyed by the species will initially be given reduced fuel supplies under an EU-funded action plan that applies to Crete and the southern Aegean Sea. Agriculture Minister and former European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said that, as in Cyprus, the fish would be frozen and incinerated in government facilities once collected.
The initiative is aimed at protecting the marine environment as much as supporting coastal and island communities, and will likely be expanded, he said.
“It’s all too late,” Nikos Aiaskoufitis, 54, said with a sigh as he enjoyed a glass of wine with other amateur fishermen at the small port in Chalkida, where the group’s illegal buildings are located. “What we see is part of the laws of nature, so no measures will be effective.
“As water temperatures warm up, these fish have migrated or will migrate. I don’t think the bounty is really enough for professional fishermen to focus on catching blowfish.”
Nikos Ayaskfitis, an amateur fisherman who lives in Chalkida, worries that the new measures will not be effective. Photo: Helena Smith/Guardian
Greek authorities also face an unexpected enemy: species enthusiasts. A club calling itself the Save the Puffer Fish Initiative emerged last week to condemn the extermination effort, saying it raises “serious ethical questions” for a creature that clearly needs “protection and respect.”
With support from the tourism industry and leading marine fish experts, who have described the protests as going too far, the fishing campaign is unlikely to go unchallenged.
“Everything we hear is exaggerated,” says Ioannis Bajakas, a marine scientist at the Aegean University on Lesbos. He says he has only seen one puffer fish in more than 15 years of scuba diving, but admits that they are widespread in the waters around Crete.
“Sure, they have long teeth and are scary-looking, and yes, they can be a problem for fishermen and nets, but like most wild animals, they don’t attack humans. If they do, it’s very rare and it’s just because they’re provoked. All of these are cases of much ado about nothing.”
Still, as he watches his grandchildren splashing around in the bay, Bereyannis remains unconvinced. “In my opinion, these barriers should be installed all over Greece,” he says. “This morning I saw two jellyfish in the ocean right outside. What about pufferfish? Life, you never know what’s going to happen next.”
