The Greek state will pay professional fishermen 5.33 euros per kilogram for catches of invasive pufferfish under a new support package announced after talks at the rural development ministry, as authorities step up efforts to curb mounting damage to fisheries from the fast-spreading species.
The measure targets the silver-cheeked toadfish, known in Greece as lagokefalos, an invasive and highly toxic species that has multiplied in recent years and is blamed for damaging nets, reducing catches and disrupting marine ecosystems, particularly around Crete and the southern Aegean.
The compensation rate was agreed during a meeting between the ministry’s political leadership and fishermen’s representatives and forms part of a broader package aimed at easing production costs, supporting incomes and improving the sector’s long-term viability.
Under the first phase of the measures, fishermen will receive a diesel subsidy of 0.16 euros per liter for April and May and 0.12 euros per liter for June, in a bid to soften the impact of fuel costs. The pufferfish compensation scheme will apply only in Crete and will be financed through European funds.
The government said the initiative is designed both to support the local fishing sector and to encourage the removal of a species that has emerged as a growing threat in Greek waters.
The pufferfish issue has climbed rapidly up the policy agenda over the past month as reports from Crete, the Dodecanese and other parts of southern Greece pointed to a sharp rise in populations of the species, which entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and has expanded westward and northward.
Fishermen have said the fish tears through nets and lines and destroys catches, while scientists and local authorities have warned of broader ecological disruption.
