Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı evaluated the 2023-2024 fishing season, which will end tomorrow, in a written statement.
Yumaklı stated that the ban on fishing in the seas would cover industrial fishing vessels (trawlers and trawlers), while small-scale fishermen engaged in coastal fishing would be exempt from this ban and could continue fishing, provided they obtain permission from the Ministry and adhere to the specified rules. He indicated that fishermen who wish to continue their economic activities during this 4.5-month period could fish with trawlers and trawling methods in international waters outside territorial waters, provided they obtain permission from the Ministry and comply with the specified rules.
Yumaklı used the following statements: “The 2023-2024 fishing season, especially fruitful in terms of the fishing of many species, including anchovies, has come to an end. Fishing products, which have taken their place on the tables of our people, have also been intensively exported and have provided foreign exchange inflows to our country.”
Minister Yumaklı emphasized that during the period of the fishing ban, the public could easily meet their needs for fish throughout the summer season with the fish caught by small-scale fishermen and those grown in aquaculture.
171,219 inspections were conducted Yumaklı also mentioned the inspections conducted during the season, stating that inspections were carried out 24/7 at seas, inland waters, landing points, transportation routes, fishing vessels, fish markets, fishmeal-oil factories, and retail sales points by the Ministry to ensure both the sustainability of fisheries and the protection of the rights of fishermen who fish legally.
Yumaklı emphasized that a total of 171,219 inspections were conducted last year and that 593 tons of aquatic products obtained through illegal fishing were confiscated. He stated that administrative fines totaling 74,012,121 Turkish Lira were imposed on 6,527 individuals and businesses, and that 78 vessels fishing illegally were confiscated and transferred to public ownership.
Yumaklı stated that regulations regarding commercial and amateur fisheries, which are determined by notifications valid for four-year periods, will expire on August 31, taking into account the report to be received from the Turkish Grand National Assembly Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Commission, climate change, and sectoral developments, as well as the opinions of all stakeholders and reports prepared by the ‘Scientific and Technical Advisory Board’ consisting of expert scientists on fisheries. He added that new rules based on sustainability within the framework of the balance between conservation and utilization would be implemented. Compliance with bans imposed during the breeding and growth periods of fish is crucial for the future of fish and fishermen, considering the scientific, environmental, economic, and social factors of our country’s aquatic wealth.”
source: aa.com.tr/ prepared by Melisa Beğiç