Scientists, fishers & local officials come together to deploy novel observation technology in Greece
In October 2025, LandSeaLot researchers met with coastal stakeholders – including local fishers, personnel from the Management Unit of Evros Delta and Dadia National Parks, and scientists from the Democritus University of Thrace – in Alexandroupoli, Greece. Together, they activated shared efforts to observe and gather data on the local land-sea interface area, including where the Evros River flows into the North East Aegean Sea.
Home to unique beaches, diverse geological formations, and thriving delta and marine ecosystems with abundant fish populations, the North Aegean is one of nine key sites across Europe in which LandSeaLot researchers are enhancing and developing solutions for jointly observing and protecting precious coastal areas. This involves creating and cementing collaborations with citizen scientists and local communities, including local officials (personnel from the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace), local environment agencies (Regional branch of the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency), and blue economy stakeholders like fishers. With the help of these community collaborations, LandSeaLot aims to fulfil scientific objectives, serve local interests, and address pressing challenges like land-based pollution.
These novel partnerships are being driven, in part, by the sharing and deployment of cost-effective technology: small, easy to use sensors and other devices which are more affordable and simpler to deploy than traditional observation technology. Now, the North Aegean LandSeaLot Integration Lab and partners are testing and deploying a range of technologies including fishing nets for capturing plastics, tiny sensors that can be attached to fishing poles, “smart” buoys, and monitoring cameras.
During the recent meetings in Alexandroupoli, LandSeaLot researchers offered training on the Manta Net: a net specially designed to collect microplastic and other microscopic litter. Partners from the Management Unit of Evros Delta Park cast Manta Nets and used a macroplastics monitoring application from a bridge over the Evros River, while fishers learned how to use them both at the Evros river mouth and the adjacent coastal area. At the same time, two cameras from LandSeaLot were installed on bridges of Erythropotamos and Ardas rivers (tributaries of the Evros) to monitor and count macroplastics. These collaborative efforts to collect and observe plastic will help all stakeholders understand the origin, route and fate of plastic pollution in the area.
Out at sea, fishers tested and used a cost-effective sensor known as the Probe: a small device that can be attached to the tip of a fishing rod to collect data on parameters like water temperature on the users’ smart phone.
In the Evros River, LandSeaLot researchers installed a low-cost temperature and salinity sensor, as well as a reference sensor to evaluate the former’s performance. Staff from the Evros River Management Unit received training on how to operate and maintain these, and helped researchers determine the optimal sites for deploying two buoys purchased by LandSeaLot that will measure temperature, salinity, oxygen, chlorophyll, and turbidity. With the access to this data, the Evros River Management Unit will be able to give better advice to policy makers how to protect the ecosystem from problems such as extensive seawater intrusion and pollution inflows to the river, which deteriorate the aquatic ecosystem. In the coming months, the first buoy will be deployed in the delta, while a nutrient sensor will be installed in the river.
These activities all serve to strengthen and integrate local efforts to gather data on the land-sea interface, and are intended to enhance shared understandings of how the land-sea interface is changing, how human actions affect local ecosystems, and how we can protect these valuable area.
Watch the Manta Net installation tutorial on the LandSeaLot Training Academy
Explore the North Aegean LandSeaLot Integration Lab factsheet
Read the North Aegean LIL spotlight
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