Emrah Karayel, Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Commission, said that the aquaculture sector will rank 1st in Europe and 17th in the world in 2023, with the supports provided since 2003.
Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Commission and AK Party Istanbul Deputy Emrah Karayel, who conducted a field investigation at a tuna farm in Karaburun district of Izmir with the members of the Parliamentary research commission, which was established to investigate the problems of the fisheries and aquaculture sector and determine solution proposals, made evaluations about the performance of the sector.
Stating that they want to identify solutions that are sustainable and will benefit the environment and humanity in the long term, rather than obtaining great benefits for the sector in a short time, Karayel stated that they are carrying out field studies in order to make long-term development planning of the aquaculture sector.
Karayel stated that they started from the Aegean Region, received solution suggestions by including everyone in the process, without excluding any stakeholder, and determined a road map with the evaluations of the ministry and academicians, and said that they wanted to achieve a result in which added value increases as well as employment and production.
Noting that serious supports have been provided to aquaculture farmers since 2003, Karayel stated that with the new supports announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, payments varying between 1-3 liras per kilogram will be made to the farmers.
“Efficient, sustainable and respectful of nature”
Karayel stated that the aquaculture sector is one of the most important sectors in exports and said:
“In 2003, the aquaculture industry was almost non-existent compared to today. We very quickly rose to the 1st place in Europe and 17th place in the world in aquaculture. This happened thanks to the support provided in the last 20 years. The exports of the aquaculture sector in 2023 are $1.7 billion. We are in a net exporter position in this sector, we do not have any serious imports. The aquaculture industry reached the $1 billion target set for this year in 2020 and reached almost $2 billion in 2023. When we look at this calculation, I think the sector will reach $2.5 billion in 2024.”
Pointing out that they are acting with the aim of achieving their export targets in an efficient, sustainable and respectful way to nature, Karayel pointed out that in addition to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and other relevant ministries are also on site at the inspection point.
Source: Trthaber / Prepared by Irem Yildiz