FAMENET stories

Across Sweden’s west coast, debate about the future of fishing is growing more urgent. A Swedish government’s proposal to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas have brought the issue into sharp focus for coastal communities.

The island of Terceira in the Azores sits 1,500 km west of mainland Portugal – remote enough to make running a business complicated, let alone one built around delivering fresh fish to distant markets. Tibério Barbeito started TZT Flying Fish Azores in his twenties with exactly that ambition.

At just 27, Richard Delmas is charting his own course in the waters off Réunion Island. Born into a fishing family, he grew up at sea. With support from the EU, he launched a small one-person fishing business built on flexibility, low costs and direct sales.

Seafood consumers often focus on a small number of well-known fish species, placing pressure on those stocks. In Malta, however, the authorities have decided to tackle this at a grassroots level: through the ‘Explore the Variety, Eat Sustainable Fish’ initiative,

In Portugal’s Ria de Aveiro lagoon, the once-thriving Largo do Laranjo was a vibrant underwater meadow carpeted in Zostera noltei seagrass. But decades of industrial pollution left mercury and arsenic into the waters, poisoning the sediments and wiping out the underwater greenery.

In Estonia, what began as a fisher’s idea for survival has evolved into a professional vehicle designed for the world’s most unforgiving environments. The hydrocopter is a type of boat that utilises aerodynamic propulsion, much like a helicopter, rather than a traditional underwater motor

Fishing is woven into the identity of the small island of Culatra, but with fewer young fishers entering the profession, it is in danger of being lost. Coming from a long line of fishers, Hugo Padinha was determined not to let that happen.

More than 30 years ago, Don Antonio Hernández Barrera stood under the Andalusian sun, gazing across the serene estuaries of Barbate. To most, those were simply quiet wetlands; to him, it was the canvas for a family dream.

The Sea and Culture Museum in the village of Latsi, Cyprus, reconnects the local community with its maritime heritage. Set in a restored warehouse, this EU-funded project has turned an abandoned building into a cultural and educational space, featuring exhibits on local fishers, sailors,