Enaleia
Enaleia is a social start up, that started in 2016, a few months after Greece’s capital controls, when the unemployment in the country had skyrocketed to 29%. This is why, we created the first school for professional fishing in the country, training more than 110 unemployed people to become fishermen over the last 3 years.
At the same time, we are training professional fishermen on how to earn more money, while catching less fish, assisting them to adopt new sustainable fishing techniques, such as fishing tourism.
Soon after we started our operations, we realized that the main challenged that our seas face, is marine plastic pollution. Specifically, when we were designing the curriculum of the fishing school, we went on fishing trips, in order to map the fishing procedure. Our first trip, was in the islands of Cyclades, where we were socked to see that fishrmen were collecting in their nets not only fish, but also plastic. which the fishermen were throwing back in the sea, by saying “this is not our problem”. We researched this phenomenon, and according to the MaCArthur Foundation, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. This is when we decided to do something about that. We started by training the fishermen from our local port, Keratsini, and we were astonished by the results. Then, we decided to spread this simple idea, fishing for plastic, to the rest of the country, by creating the project Mediterranean Cleanup. Now we work with hundreds of fishermen in Greece and Italy, and we are collecting thousands of kilos of plastic from the sea, every week! This plastic, is then integrated into the circular economy, through our recycling and upcycling partners.
This plastic, is then integrated into the circular economy, through our recycling and upcycling partners. For our project Mediterranean Cleanup, we got the recognition of Young Champion of the Earth, representing Europe!

The UN Environment Program selected us among the Top 5 best initiatives in Europe for 2019 for its positive impact on the environment. You can read more here.
You can read more about our action on the plastic in an article for us in The Guardian.
Vision
A sustainable marine ecosystem, including humans.
Mission
To solve two problems that correlate to a great extend
Reduction of fish stocks
Fish stocks have decreased by 30% the last 30 years ( Eurostat, 2016),
Plastic pollution of the oceans
By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea (Ellen MacArthur Foundation).
Our team

LEFTERIS ARAPAKIS
Co-founder & Manager

NIKOS THERAPOS
Legal & Finance

ZETA KAMPARDI
Project Manager

Giorgos Antoniou
Michaniona Port Representative
Awards
- Top 5 actions with a positive environmental impact in Europe for 2019, by the United Nations Environment Program (UN Environment - Young Champions of the Earth) UNE YCotE
- Angelopoulos - Clinton GIU fellowship
- Best business idea in the 6th IAEA Competition of Athens University of Economics and Business.
- EUXCEL competition for the Pan-European Entrepreneurship Conference
- Bluegrowth Piraeus 2016.
- Best Business Venture by GSEA 2017
- Mindspace Challenge 2017 winners
- Ashoka's Impact program, the world's largest network of social entrepreneurs who put their innovative ideas into practice in social change and social problem solving
- Invitation to speak at TEDx Kavala 2017
- Participation in Climate Kic Accelerator 2019
- Participation in the Higgs Accelerator 2019
- Invitation to speak at We Love Green Music Festival 2019 - Paris
- Stelios Philanthropic Foundation - Top 10 Startups in Greece - 2019
- 1st place in the Greek competition Balkan Green Ideas 2020
- 1st place in the Balkan competition Balkan Green Ideas 2020
What we do
Our impact
- 80 000 kgr of plastic has been removed from the sea
- 10 000 kgr of used nets have been collected in the framework of sea pollution prevention and were used to create more than 230 000 pairs of socks
- 145 medium duty fishing boats are participating in the activities of cleaning seas from plastic.
- Extra income was created for 750 professional fishers
- 270 seaside professional fishermen have been trained in sustainable fishing techniques
- 114 unemployed people were trained in professional fishing
Media Mentions
Read more about the project in our interviews in national and international news agencies
Supporters














