And yet they exist. It has been established that the Euboean Gulf offers the ideal conditions for the growth of pearl oysters, but the publicity of the matter causes their illegal fishing.

The study concerns the identification of the number of pearls, notes Dimitris Pafras, PhD candidate in marine biology-fishery dynamics at the University of Thessaly.

Five natural pearls have so far been caught by the group that is said to be studying the marine life in the waters of the Euboean Gulf and this became the first news. Such an announcement is made for the sake of publicity, not research.

According to the results of the research, the possibility of a new perspective of economic development for fishermen is created.

Research on pearl shells in the Euboean Gulf

However, the legislation has not yet provided for the existence of pearl oysters in the Greek seas and does not have the appropriate framework.

However, the Greek mentality prevails and violates any legislation that exists for known catches.

As an example, the “Petrosolena” is mentioned, one of the illegally caught fish, and as long as there is demand, the phenomenon will intensify, notes Mr. Pafras.

The problem concerns the marketing of protected marine invertebrate species, as delicacies, in large restaurants in the country.

The Archipelago Marine Protection Institute estimates that illegal and destructive fishing in Greece has taken on a large area.

At the same time and while Mr. Pafras mentions that due to the overfishing of the common oysters, there is a large decrease in their populations, with the risk of disappearing from the Greek seas, at the same time he states that the new pearl oysters will be an opportunity to increase their income the fishermen. However, this creates the feeling of a new El Dorado, a search for pearls.

As long as the corresponding legislative framework does not exist, similar announcements of scientific studies and the promotion of the subject, work negatively.

The research, as is the case with any Organization that carries out serious research, is not done for publicity, but for the protection of the seas. This results from the studies of one of the largest Institutes of Oceanography, Florida, USA, which contributes the most to the so-called “Blue Economy” of the state.