Press release…
Ankara – August 31, 2020
Union of Turkish Agricultural Chambers (TZOB) Chairman Şemsi Bayraktar, declaring the ban on hunting at sea will end tonight, said, “Tonight our fishermen, by saying ‘heave Bismillah’, they will sail. I wish all our fishermen a prosperous season with plenty of products.”
Bayraktar emphasized that fish, which is a valuable food for human health, is also an important source of livelihood. Despite being surrounded of three sides by the sea, Bayraktar stated it has been unable to evaluate the existing potential in aquaculture, “Our country, with 8 thousand 333 kilometre long coastline, has valuable fishing resource with extensive inland waters and rivers. We have to make the right use of this blessing bestowed by our geography.”
Pointing out that fishing in Turkey is mostly done as coastal fishing, Bayraktar noted, “We cannot develop our fishing by being confined to the shore. We must take advantage of the opportunity offered by our seas, provide adequate infrastructure and develop open sea fishing.”
- “In 2019, aquaculture production increased by 33.1 percent, hunting increased by 47.5 percent”
Explaining that fisheries production, which was 672 thousand 241 tons in 2015, with a decrease of 12.4 percent amounted to 588 thousand 715 tons in 2016, 630 thousand 820 tons with an increase of 7.2 percent in 2017 and 628 thousand 631 tons with a decrease of 0.3 percent in 2018, Bayraktar added, “The production of fisheries in 2019 increased by 33.1 percent and reached 836 thousand 524 tons.”