AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Imagine heavy nets, many miles wide, scraping the ocean floor, trapping all marine life in their wake. This is called trawling. It's a common fishing method that scientists say is devastating the marine environment. Most of what's caught never reaches our tables. Animals like dolphins and sea turtles who die in these nets are discarded. One Italian fisherman is fighting illegal trawling in protected areas off the Tuscan coast and has found a surprising solution involving art. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING)
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: Paolo Fanciulli takes us out on his boat from Talamone, the fishing village he's lived in all his life. The sea is different these days.
PAOLO FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: As a child, he remembers these waters full of life.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: "We've destroyed our marine ecosystems," he says. Industrial-scale fishing and bottom trawling are compromising the delicate balance of these marine environments and causing fish populations to decline.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: As a younger activist, Fanciulli, now in his 60s, tried everything - all kinds of actions to stop illegal trawling. He even says, at one point, trying to sabotage the boats at night.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: But nothing stopped some companies fishing illegally close to the coastline. Then, around 13 years ago, Fanciulli struck upon a different solution. He stops the boat.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: We've arrived at this beautiful, natural bay. There's aquamarine waters along sandy coastline that backs on to these forested hills. It's here, under this gentle water, that there are statues made by artists and sunk to the bottom of this part of the Mediterranean to protect it.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: There are statues of sleeping giants, mermaids, a set of huge marble eyes that look up to the surface - four works from the famous British sculptor Emily Young, that she called "Guardians." Guardians, Fanciulli explains, who stand sentinel against the trawlers.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: The project has stopped fishing trawling in this area, Fanciulli says. The statues, along with some 900 concrete blocks, break the trawlers' nets, tearing huge gashes in the webbing, and they attract attention to the fishing practice. Divers and snorkelers now come to see this underwater museum. In this area, ring-fenced by statues and blocks, fish are returning.
(SOUNDBITE OF SEAGULL SQUAWKING)
SHERLOCK: A seagull hovers as Fanciulli fishes a more traditional way, to show us how he thinks it should be done sustainably.
(SOUNDBITE OF NETS BEING PULLED UP)
SHERLOCK: Paolo's pulling up the nets. He looks at each individual fish caught in the net and decides whether to keep it or throw it back to the sea. Young fish, breeding fish - all these get a second chance at life.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: He untangles a young electric stingray.
It's too small to fish, so he's going back into the sea.
I volunteer to release him back to the sea and so try to pick him up from the floor of the boat. And much to Fanciulli's amusement...
SHERLOCK: Sorry, little one. (Scream). I just got an electric shock (laughter). OK.
(Speaking Italian).
The electricity shocks through my hand as I try to touch him. Eventually, with help, we do manage to grab him, and once overboard, he glides graceful, deep under the water.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)
SHERLOCK: The statues have made Fanciulli something of a celebrity. He's been interviewed hundreds of times by journalists from across the world. Two French TV reporters are with us on the day that Fanciulli takes us out on his small boat. Experts say Fanciulli and his colleagues in the project have brought new life to this sea. Carbon capturing plants cover the statues, and the concrete blocks have also become valuable habitats for fish. Dolphins have returned in greater numbers. Fanciulli is preparing to expand this project further along the Italian coast, but now he's also fighting against another problem. On the horizon, he spots a vessel.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
(SOUNDBITE OF BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING)
SHERLOCK: "That boat is illegally fishing octopus," he says. By law, he explains, ships can lay up to 1,250 traps for these sea creatures. But here, he says, some ships are placing up to 10,000 traps each.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING)
SHERLOCK: He takes us to see these traps.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOAT ENGINE CHUGGING)
SHERLOCK: Wow. This whole area is riddled with traps for the octopuses.
Countless black plastic pots attached to ropes - octopus nest in them, only to be yanked out of the sea. For years, Fanciulli has worked with activist organizations and the Italian coastguard to try to stop the illegal practice. And now he's starting Casa dei Polpi - home of octopuses.
FANCIULLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: Back in Talamone, we make our way to see this project. Near an ancient fortress with sweeping views of the coast, students from a school in north Italy gather. Set out on foldout tables are their works - rows and rows of amphoras that will now become new homes for octopuses.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: (Speaking Italian).
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: Students have made these imaginative terracotta pots. Some have eyes on them. Some have sculptures of octopuses wrapped around them. Some have gremlins' faces, some just beautiful patterns.
MICHELLE ZURLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: Nineteen-year-old Michelle Zurli says she finds it beautiful that her art won't just be kept in her school or in someone's home but will actually have a practical use.
ZURLI: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: Like with the marble statues, these amphoras will be placed underwater. They will join hundreds of others that have already been sunk into the sea as homes for octopuses, who like to curl up inside. The intention is to provide a better space for these creatures than the plastic traps, thereby luring them to safety.
Back on Fanciulli's boat, a student carefully lowers her amphora in the water. Initial studies on the project by Siena University are showing promising results, but Fanciulli admits it is early days. He's fundraising - encouraging people to sponsor an octopus home. He hopes to sink tens of thousands of amphoras in this bid to save the sea he loves. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Talamone, Italy. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
