THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Reminding that the hunting of bluefish, the youngest of the bluefish family, is prohibited, Dr. Altuğ Atalay said, “Do not buy the bluefish from the counter. The catch length of the bluefish is 18 cm. Do not buy small fish.”
Dr. Atalay explained, “In our country, which hosts the strongest fishing fleet of the Mediterranean basin, approximately 20 thousand fishing boats left their nets in our seas and inland waters by saying ‘Vira Bismillah’. We aim to catch fish without being below 300 thousand tonnes and not exceeding 500 thousand tonnes per year.”
309 boats seized…
Stating that they attach great importance to sustainable fishing, Dr. Atalay said, “At the end of our inspections, we seized a total of 309 fishing boats, 107 of which we determined did not comply with the rules, in the Marmara Sea. Some of them were donated to public institutions, while others were shredded by MKE and used for recycling.”
Pointing out that they have increased their aquaculture export of 750 million dollars to approximately 1.3 billion dollars in the last 3 years, Dr. Atalay added, “The biggest part of our export is Turkish salmon, sea bass and sea bream. The fish we catch the most is anchovy. Sardines, sprats and mussels follow behind.”
Emphasizing that the salmon grown in the Black Sea region is branded as Turkish salmon, Dr. Atalay concluded, “We use the term Turkish salmon, not the Black Sea, for our branding. In addition, last year we left 6 million fish fry (carp, catfish, perch, turbot). We left 52 million fish in 2021. In 2022, we will leave one fish, 84 million, for each citizen. In 2023, we will support the stocks by leaving 100 million fish for our republic.”
