Our Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Bekir Pakdemirli and the Minister of Environment and Urbanization, Mr. Murat Kurum, released sea bass and turbot from Yenikapı Pier to increase biodiversity within the scope of the Istanbul program.
Afterwards, Pakdemirli and the Authority, which went to sea by boat from Yenikapı, released 2 tons of mussels into the Marmara Sea off Sarayburnu within the scope of the "Marmara Sea Action Plan Istanbul Artificial Reef Project 15nd Stage Reef Throw".
Within the scope of the event, Minister Pakdemirli also made evaluations on the issues on the agenda; “We have investigations into flamingo deaths in Salt Lake. There were years when deaths were followed in such puppies before. There seem to be as many as 1.000 pup deaths. According to the examination of Selcuk University Veterinary Faculty, there is no poisoning.” said.
Noting that the mucilage on the surface of the Marmara Sea is almost zero, Pakdemirli said that although there is some under the surface, the necessary precautions have been taken and the work continues.
Reminding that they released turbot and sea bass to Marmaray today, Pakdemirli pointed out that there are many reasons for mucilage, and said:
“There are 22 items in the Mucilage Action Plan, 6 of which are directly related to our ministry. We support organic agriculture and pressure irrigation systems and support organic fertilizers and organic mineral fertilizers. We should be happy to say that 72 percent of the animal manures in the Marmara Region are stored and used for biogas. In other words, most of the necessary measures have been taken beforehand to prevent the Marmara from being contaminated. In order to protect the ecosystem in the sea, which we call aquatic ecosystem, we have confiscated 1386 illegal fishing boats with the prohibition of light fishing and our newly enacted Law No. 136 in Marmara. We also started using UAVs in inspections, we are cleaning ghost networks.
Turkey has managed to be among the countries with the fastest growing fish population in the world in interpol reports. We have come to a point regarding illegal fishing, with the support of our Assembly regarding the legislation and with the close follow-up of our friends. Our fishermen were affected by the mucilage. We started to support our fishing boats below 12 meters. We started to support the fishermen in Marmara twice as much as yesterday. They also started to receive support between 2 thousand and 2 thousand 900 TL, normally between 1.000 and 1.450 TL. It will be published in the Official Gazette tomorrow at the latest. We take samples from fish, mussels and water in our analyzes once a week. Our citizens can consume fish with peace of mind, there is no major problem in consuming fish in Marmara, it never has been.”
“ HOW MY MINISTER IS MAKING TOKI FOR CITIZENS, OURS IS TO MAKING TOKI FOR FISHES”
Minister Pakdemirli, regarding the artificial reef project, said, “Maybe most of us don't understand when it comes to reefs. Ours is to make TOKİ for fish, just as my Minister does TOKİ for the citizens. This analogy came to mind for me to remember." said.
Pointing out that fish nesting and finding a place is a very important feature of the reefs, Pakdemirli said that the reefs left in the last 1-2 years contributed greatly to the increase in biodiversity in Marmara.
Noting that they have left 480 artificial reefs and 36 antitrols so far, Pakdemirli shared the following information:
“Today, we will release 30 reefs and 3 antitrolls. Today, we will do something like a biological treatment plant for mucilage, and that will leave mussels to Marmara. The mussels we leave today are very few, but we will leave a total of 155 tons of mussels with the mussels we will leave this month, 17 million mussels will clean 3,3 million cubic meters of water per month. In 1 year, more than 1 billion cubic meters of water will be cleaned with mussels. We are extremely happy for that.
This is a job with examples around the world, not just something we do. The Hudson River in New York in the USA was cleaned by mussels and mussels in time. I would also like to say that we can do something similar in the case of an operation that will expand even further in Marmara, especially with the contributions of our General Directorate of Fisheries.”
“WE HAVE THE NECESSARY INVESTIGATIONS DONE REGARDING THE DEATH OF FLAMINGO IN SALT LAKE”
Minister Pakdemirli, who also gave information about the flamingo deaths in Salt Lake, said:
“We are doing the necessary investigations. Previously, there were years in which deaths in offspring were followed. There seem to be as many as 1.000 pup deaths. According to the examination of Selcuk University Veterinary Faculty, there is no poisoning. With the decrease in water here and the increase in the concentration in the water, it seems that deaths are observed in dehydrated and flightless puppies.
Necessary measures have been taken in this regard. I would also like to state that this issue has no direct or indirect connection with the surrounding wells and agricultural irrigation. The matter is currently being investigated in detail by both us and the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.”
“THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT DROUGHT, WE NEED TO INCREASING OUR STORAGE AREAS”
Pakdemirli, who gave information about the studies on drought, underlined that the morale of the farmer should be high in order to continue production in a sustainable way.
Reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the necessary support plan regarding this issue, Pakdemirli continued as follows:
“One rule support up to 151 TL per decare has been announced. The best way to fight drought is to increase our storage areas. We are heading towards the years where we have to hold every drop of water that falls in the next 20-50 years. Turkey has investments ahead of it. In the last 20 years, we have reached 275 dams by adding 600 more dams to 875 dams. Turkey has doubled its republican historical performance here by 2-2,5 times and has done what is necessary in the last 20 years. Beyond that, our work continues. In this regard, in Turkey, be it storage areas or underground dams.
Underground dams are an issue that our Ministry has taken into consideration and importance in the last 3 years, especially for drought. It was a known issue in arid countries before. We actually brought this to Turkey. We have a plan to quickly finish 2023 underground dams by 150. By the end of this year, we will have completed 50 of them. 38 of them are ready now. We are taking and continue to take all kinds of measures under the leadership of our President, in order to protect and develop water resources, increase storage and to continue agricultural production when our farmers encounter such a situation.”
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