This Underwater Sculpture Garden Protects Italian Fishing Grounds

0:01Today on State of the World, the underwater sculpture garden that protects Italy's fishing grounds. You're listening to State of the World from NPR, the day's most vital international stories, up close where they are happening. It's Tuesday, July 29th. I'm Christine Arrowsmith. Imagine cruising the blue waters of Italy's Tuscan coast and looking down to see a mermaid looking back. You'd have found yourself at the sunken sculpture garden created by one Italian fisherman to protect marine life. The sculptures serve as deterrents to the heavy nets used in trawling. That's a common fishing method that scrapes many miles wide of the sea floor.

0:52The practice often traps far more marine life than reaches our tables. Dolphins and sea turtles, for instance, are sometimes caught up in the heavy nets and then discarded as bycatch. NPR's Ruth Sherlock visited the fishermen, who created this surprising, artful protection against overfishing. Paolo Fanchulli takes us out on his boat from Talamone, the fishing village he's lived in all his life. The sea is different these days.

1:29As a child, he remembers these waters full of life. We've destroyed our marine ecosystems, he says. Industrial-scale fishing and bottom trawling are compromising the delicate balance of these marine environments and causing fish populations to decline. As a younger activist, Fan Chul Li, now in his 60s, tried everything, all kinds of actions to stop illegal trawling. He even says at one point trying to sabotage the boats at night.

2:06But nothing stopped some companies fishing illegally close to the coastline. Then, around 13 years ago, Fanchulli struck upon a different solution. He stops the boat. We've arrived at this beautiful natural bay There's aquamarine waters along sandy coastline that backs on to these forested hills It's here, under this gentle water, that there are statues made by artists and sunk to the bottom of this part of the Mediterranean to protect it There are statues of sleeping giants, mermaids a set of huge marble eyes that look up to the surface. Four works from the famous British sculptor Emily Young that she called Guardians.

2:56Guardians, Fanciulli explains, who stand sentinel against the trawlers. The project has stopped fishing trawling in this area, Fanciulli says. The statues, along with some 900 concrete blocks, break the trawlers' nets, tearing huge gashes in the webbing. And they attract attention to the fishing practice. Divers and snorkelers now come to see this underwater museum. In this area, ring-fenced by statues and blocks, fish are returning. A seagull hovers as Fanchuli fishes a more traditional way to show us how he thinks it should be done sustainably. Paolo's pulling up the net. He looks at each individual fish caught in the net and decides whether to keep it or throw it back to the sea.

3:50Young fish, breeding fish, all these get a second chance at life. He untangles a young electric stingray. It's too small to fish, so he's going back into the sea. I volunteer to release him back to the sea and so try to pick him up from the floor of the boat. and, much to Fanchulli's amusement... Sorry, little one. I just got an electric shock. OK. The electricity shocks through my hand as I try to touch him. Eventually, with help, we do manage to grab him and once overboard, he glides graceful deep under the water. The statues have made Fanchulli something of a celebrity. He's been interviewed hundreds of times by journalists from across the world.

4:43Two French TV reporters are with us on the day that Fanchuli takes us out on his small boat. Experts say Fanchuli and his colleagues in the project have brought new life to the sea. Carbon-capturing plants cover the statues, and the concrete blocks have also become valuable habitats for fish. Dolphins have returned in greater numbers. Fanchulli is preparing to expand this project further along the Italian coast, but now he's also fighting against another problem. On the horizon, he spots a vessel.

5:19That boat is a legally fishing octopus, he says. By law, he explains, ships can lay up to 1 ,250 traps for these sea creatures. But here, he says, some ships are placing up to 10 ,000 traps each. He takes us to see these traps. Wow. This whole area is riddled with traps for the octopuses. Countless black plastic pots attached to ropes. Octopus nest in them, only to be yanked out of the sea. For years, Fanciulli has worked with activist organisations and the Italian Coast Guard to try to stop the illegal practice. And now he's starting Casa dei Pulpi, home of octopuses. Back in Talamone, we make our way to see this project.

6:11Near an ancient fortress with sweeping views of the coast, students from a school in North Italy gather. Set out on fold-out tables are their works, rows and rows of amphoras that will now become new homes for octopuses. Students have made these imaginative terracotta pots. Some have eyes on them, some have sculptures of octopuses wrapped around them, some have gremlins' faces, some just beautiful patterns.

6:4219-year-old Michelle Zurli says she finds it beautiful that her art won't just be kept in her school or in someone's home, but will actually have a practical use.

6:56Like with the marble statues, these amphoras will be placed underwater. They will join hundreds of others that have already been sunk into the sea as homes for octopuses who like to curl up inside. The intention is to provide a better space for these creatures than the plastic traps, thereby luring them to safety. Back on Fanciulli's boat, a student carefully lowers her amphora in the water. Initial studies on the project by Siena University are showing promising results, but Fanchuli admits it is early days. He's fundraising, encouraging people to sponsor an octopus home. He hopes to sink tens of thousands of amphoras in this bid to save the sea he loves.

7:41Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Dalla Morni, Italy.

7:48That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.