From the 11th to the 14th of July 2024, the Embassy of the North Sea is organising the Not Illegal Fishing Competition in the Llobregat River, as part of Manifesta 15 Barcelona Metropolitana.
About half of the inhabitants of Barcelona have daily contact with the Llobregat River, as they drink its waters; yet most of them do not know the river well. The city does not face the Llobregat - the river is virtually nowhere to be seen from the city and is also difficult to access. To take care of a river, it must start living in people's imagination.
One of the problems the Llobregat is facing is the excessive presence of invasive species. That is why Sheng-Wen Lo, Leon Lapa Pereira and Harpo 't Hart are organising the Not Illegal Fishing Competition on behalf of the Embassy of the North Sea. The inspiration behind this comes from the popular fishing competitions in Taiwan aimed at eliminating invasive exotic species. Organising such a fishing competition in the Llobregat River evoked understandable resistance since we are encouraging people to kill animals. Providing you have a fishing license, it is not illegal, but is it the best option? This question touches upon a common conflict between, roughly speaking, ecologists who think from a system’s approach on one side, and animal rights activists with strong moral convictions on the other. What is in the best interest of the river and who are you to make choices for an ecosystem? What do you do with the invasive exotic species once you catch them?
The Not Illegal Fishing Competition invites you to get to know the Llobregat River as a living ecosystem with its own beauty, problems and conflicts.
It is open to everyone and to all ages, particularly those without a fishing license or experience. On Thursday and Friday, the fishing competition will host two groups of children on summer camp and in the weekend of the 13th and 14th of July, we are open to the public.
