SEA-ME: CO-CREATING EMPOWERMENT THROUGH INNOVATION INFISHING COASTAL COMMUNITIEs
- Aug 27
- 3 min read
The main focus of SEA-ME is to provide a platform for fishing vulnerable populations, often marginalised in their regions, to use digital skills that empowers them. SEA-me works with fishing communities to support tools to make their voices heard, choose their way of representation in media and show what they believe is important for them in terms of values, knowledge, skills and competences.
SEA-ME aims at co-creating opportunities for training, exchange and valorisation. More specifically, it aims at providing the tools for fishers and communities to support increased agency in developing the image they want themselves and their communities to have. Through small-scale innovation and international exchange, this project will actively increasing the fishing communities to work their potential to become agents of change.
Communities
Lagoa de Óbidos
The Lagoon of Óbidos is the most extensive coastal lagoon system on the Portuguese coast. It has a total area of approximately 6.9 km2 and an average depth of two meters, with elevations ranging from half a meter to five meters.
As a coastal lagoon system, it holds high value due to its productive characteristics, particularly in terms of biodiversity of ecosystems and faunal and floral species, but also of avifauna (where migratory movements of various birds can be observed).
It communicates with the ocean through a tidal bar (Aberta in local toponymy) artificially maintained, which ensures the exchange of water and sediments. (Source: https://www.cm-obidos.pt/municipio/gestao-do-territorio/lagoa-de-obidos, our translation)
Its fauna is composed of fish species such as sea bass, sole, plaice, turbot, gilthead seabream, sea bream, mullet, and other species such as clams, cockles, mussels, shrimp, octopus, eel, and green crab, among others.
Fishing and shellfish harvesting are the main economic activities related to the Óbidos Lagoon and, as such, are entirely dependent on this lagoon environment. Fishing, although less relevant than before, is important as an economic driver of this region. The harvesting of bivalve mollusks continues to hold a prominent place in the economy of the local shellfish-gathering populations.
The Bateira is the typical boat used by both fishermen and shellfish gatherers in the Óbidos Lagoon.
They are characterized by being open-decked vessels. In the past, they were widely used for collecting seaweed. Nowadays, bateiras can have two engines (operated by gasoline), a main one and an auxiliary one that can be used in case of a breakdown. Every two years, for maintenance, the bateiras are immersed in water, and then, when they are dry, they are painted. (Source: https://turismo.obidos.pt/lagoa-de-obidos/ , our translation)
Turku Archipelago
Saaristo (Finnish for “archipelago”) is a group of islands located on the southwestern coast of Finland in Northern Europe.
The national languages are Finnish and Swedish, with the language distribution in Saaristo being roughly 63% Swedish and 37% Finnish. (… ) most Finns are also proficient in English. (Source: https://saaristo.fi/)
The Archipelago Sea lies between the city of Turku to the east, Åland to the west, Bengtskär lighthouse to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the north. More than 40 000 islands and islets make the Finnish Archipelago the most numerous in the world.
To locals and sailors, the area is often simply referred to as the Turku Archipelago.
Situated in the Province of Turku and Pori in south-western Finland, this biosphere reserve comprises terrestrial and marine habitats, including coniferous forests, wood meadows, heaths, rocky meadows, rocky or sandy islets, arable land, seashores and open sea. It represents a coastal environment of small islands in the Baltic Sea. Island societies are small in scale, and people who have lived there for generations maintain close contact with the sea and nature. Traditional livelihoods such as fishing and agriculture are becoming less profitable, and the population has declined markedly since the beginning of the last century. (Source: https://www.unesco.org/en/mab/archipelago-sea-area)
