Warning ......Turkey’s running out due to over-fishing
Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV) President Bayram Öztürk has said Turkey’s population of fish is quickly dwindling due to over-fishing.
“Our seas were abandoned to their destiny. Tuna, mackerel and swordfish are already gone. We import turbot from Romania and Ukraine. Now the time has come for bluefish. No one can eat bluefish this year. Why? Because, it was fished when the supply was too limited,” Öztürk said, speaking at the İstanbul Fisheries Congress co-organized by TÜDAV and the Sarıyer Municipality.
Arguing that not only the bluefish but also bluefin tuna and red mullet are in serious danger, Öztürk suggested that fishermen and their activities be more strictly controlled and that protection zones for marine life be established in the Marmara Sea and around the Princes Islands. “If excessive and uncontrolled fishing continues, then we will even miss the days when we could buy a kilogram of anchovies for TL 10. The Marmara Sea and the straits are migration routes for fish, but we use scoop nets around the Maiden’s Tower and the Salıpazarı area. Fishermen’s boats are all over the Marmara Sea.
Unfortunately we will only be left with too little fish in our seas if nothing is done. As we go to see animals in zoos today, we will be obliged to visit aquariums to see [now common] fish in the future,” he said.
Speaking at the congress, Ramazan Özkaya, chairman of the Ankara-based Central Union of Sea Products Cooperatives (SÜR-KOOP), touched upon the specific issue of fishing bluefish too soon and said fishermen are currently allowed to fish for bluefish as soon as they reach a length of 14 centimeters. “So fishermen are taking advantage of the permission the state grants them. We should certainly change that [the minimum length], but they can fish for bluefish at the current length until that happens,” he said in response.
Yalçın Çelik, an experienced fisherman, also took the floor during the congress and said fishing with scoop nets should definitely be banned. He suggested that fishing only be allowed with fishing rods in the area extending from where the Bosporus meets the Black Sea and into a wide area in the Marmara Sea that includes the Princes Islands.
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