Izmir Metropolitan Municipality took action to use discarded products in fisheries for pet nutrition. Taking action to create a sector in this field, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality held the introductory meeting of the Erasmus-Plus Maripet project with stakeholders from Ege University, Balıkesir University and abroad. Speaking at the meeting, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Ertuğrul Tugay said, “We will create training programs with our stakeholders. We will contribute to the pet food industry with awareness activities.”
İzmir Metropolitan Municipality's international partner Erasmus-Plus Maripet project was introduced. At the meeting held at the İzmir Agricultural Development Center in Sasalı, hosted by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, information was given about the project, in which Ege University, Balıkesir University and universities in Norway, Croatia, Lithuania and Iceland are stakeholders. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Ertuğrul Tugay, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Agricultural Services Department Head Şevket Meriç, Ege University Faculty of Fisheries Dean Prof. . Dr. Uğur Sunlu, academics, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Bayraklı, Balçova and Karabağlar municipalities representatives, fisheries engineers, food engineers, agricultural engineers, veterinarians and fishermen attended.
“Our support to fisheries continues”
Ertuğrul Tugay, Deputy Secretary General of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, who took the floor at the meeting held for the project to cover the years 2022-2024, emphasized that İzmir is an ancient sea city and said, “Our President Tunç SoyerOur municipality, which has taken the task of protecting the ecological balance, natural life and the environment with the vision of . Izmir; fisheries have a special importance in Aegean Sea and Turkish fisheries in terms of production amount and production value. Being aware of this, we are working to protect the ecological balance of the sea. As Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, we support the continuity of the traditional fishing profession and the protection of biodiversity, which is ignored in Turkey. For this reason, we continue to support small-scale fishermen and fisheries cooperatives. It is one of the biggest responsibilities of our municipality to value every living thing.”
“We will create and expand the sector”
Ertuğrul Tugay, who stated that with the project, a training curriculum will be prepared both to evaluate the products obtained from discard hunting and to ensure that the animals are fed with quality, continued his words as follows: Together with our esteemed stakeholders, we will create and disseminate training programs.” Ertuğrul Tugay added that with its sustainable business plan, it will contribute to the pet food industry by raising awareness until 2024.
The metropolitan will
İzmir Metropolitan Municipality will carry out the process of completing the survey preparations, organizing the meetings, carrying out the promotional activities of the project, and organizing the closing meeting of the project in 2024 in İzmir with all the country stakeholders.
What does the project aim for?
The discarded products are thrown into the sea as waste, both because they consist of species with no economic value and because they are below the catch length. Conversion of discarded fish into pet food or one of its components points to an economic value chain. For this, a training program will be created by bringing together different experts and institutions. There will be studies for the fisheries and pet food industry.
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