A board game with ecological consciousness and scientific documentation presented in Thessaloniki And it aspires to bring players – small and large – closer to sustainable fisheries and management of the Aegean marine ecosystems. Fish n ‘Ships Aegean Sea, a new educational proposal based on real ecological data, promises learning through play, fun through environmental consciousness.
The game was designed As part of the Horizon 2020 Ecoscope program (Project Code: 101000302), with the aim of promoting the ecosystem approach to fishing. It is the result of the collaboration of scientists from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and is the “Greek edition” of an original idea by Italian scientists Diego Manna and Simone Libralato, who developed the original for the Adriatic Sea.
The occasion for adapting to the Aegean was given to the World Fisheries Congress in Seattle, where the workshop partner, Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii (US) Domna Dimarchopoulou, saw the Italian game closely, the Italian game, She was excited and shared her experience with the director of the laboratory, Professor at the Department of Biology of AUTH Athanasios Tsiklira and the workshop of the Laboratory Yiannis Keramidas. “We have examined how to bring it to our own environment, with our own data,” explains Mrs Dimarchopoulou to RES-EIA.
The Greek version, Fish n ‘Ships Aegean Sea, It rests on ecopath food models specifically designed for the Aegean by scientists Yiannis Keramida, Domna Dimarchopoulou and Athanasios Tsiklira in 2022. These models depict the food relationships, energy flows and the effects of fishing in real conditions, offering the game scientific background.
A sea on the table: Educational approach to sustainable fishing
The game is aimed at players over 8 years, and is played from 2 to 4 people. Each player manages his own maritime section in the Aegean, building his ecosystem based on food relationships between species. It then activates cards with fishing fleets, applies management measures, and is confronted with environmental pressures such as climate change.
‘It’s not just a strategy or entertainment game’, Professor Athanasios Tsikliras explains to RES-EIA. “Each player makes his own sea based on the food relationships of the species. He then uses fleet cards that can bring points – that is, ‘profits’ – but some cause destruction to the ecosystem. The key is that the final winner is not the one who scores most of fishing points, but the one who manages to have a well -preserved sustainable ecosystem. There is the essence. “
The game highlights concepts such as:
– Aegean Sea Typical Types
– Fisheries and their impacts
– The importance of marine protected areas
– Food interdependencies
– Threats from overfishing and climate change
“You learn things while you play,” says Domna Dimarchopoulou. The user comes into contact with the species, learns which fishing tools are more environmentally friendly and which lead to resource exhaustion. He is encouraged to make sustainable choices, not only to win, but also to maintain a balance in the ecosystem, they explain with Mr Tsiklira.
Another characteristic of the game is the start time: he starts playing the one who … ate more recent fish!
Educational tool with scientific signature
Fish n ‘Ships Aegean Sea is not sold – for the time being – on the market. Available free of free in limited number of copies, mainly in educational institutions, schools and environmental agencies, while the material is also available online, through a special game platform.
According to the team, the goal is to play as an educational tool that will be used by teachers, students, researchers and generally anyone interested in the environment and sustainable management of sea resources.
Το Fish n’ Ships Aegean Sea It offers the opportunity to “live” your choices, to see their consequences and to realize the need for balance – Learning with participation, critical thinking, and most of all with interest!
More information on the game here
Contact for educational use:
Aquarium laboratory AUTH
*The photos were given by Fish N ‘Ships Aegean Sea team