Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Vahit Kirişci, stated that they expect aquaculture exports to exceed 2022 billion dollars in 1,5. In his statement on the occasion of 21 November World Fishermen's Day, Kirişci stated that they support the fishing industry while protecting the assets in the seas.
In this context, Kirişci pointed out that in the last 20 years, they have provided fishermen with 10,2 billion liras of SCT discounted fuel support, 7,2 billion liras of aquaculture support and 82,9 million liras of small-scale fisheries support, and in this context, a total of 18,2 billion liras has been paid with today's value. stressed.
Underlining that the fishing industry has a fishing capacity above the country's needs, Minister Kirişci said, “Last year, our fisheries exports were over 1,4 billion dollars. We expect our aquaculture exports to exceed 2022 billion dollars in 1,5. Our export target for 2023 is 2 billion dollars, and we are taking firm steps forward. With the fishing agreements we signed under the leadership of our President, our chiefs fish in international waters from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.” used the phrases.
Pointing out that Turkish fishermen catch approximately 3 million tons of fish, which is at least 1 times the amount of fish caught in the national waters, in international waters and oceans, Vahit Kirişci said that the fish caught are also processed in factories established in cooperating countries. Kirişci said that while providing employment opportunities for the citizens of other countries, hundreds of millions of dollars were also provided to Turkey.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Kirişci mentioned that the main goal of aquaculture policies is to protect the fisheries resources in the seas and inland waters and to ensure the sustainability of the presence in the waters, and said:
“Now we know very well that natural resources are not infinite. Not much is known, but 50-80 percent of the world's oxygen production is produced by plankton and other plants in the seas. Therefore, we must protect not only fish, but also seagrass meadows, algae and the entire marine ecosystem. In this context, we protect our sea and inland waters with our control and inspection boats and examine them with our research vessels. We preserve genetic materials with the Fisheries Gene Bank, which we have just put into service. In order to protect our water resources, our ministry also attaches great importance to the production of fish.”
Kirişci underlined that they release 15 different species of fish, mainly chabut fish in Southeastern Anatolia, grouper, sea bass and coral in the Mediterranean, sea bream and sea bass in the Aegean, turbot, sturgeon and natural trout in the Black Sea, into the water resources. We are one of the most adept countries in fishing with species. By the end of 2022, we will have released approximately 84 million juvenile fish, one for each of our citizens, into water resources. We aim to increase the amount of fisheries to 100 million in 2023, befitting the 100th anniversary of our Republic, the Turkish Century. On this occasion, I congratulate all our fishermen on November 21, World Fishermen's Day.” made its assessment.
About 70 Ships Are Fishing in Other Country's Territorial Waters
This year, approximately 70 ships are engaged in fishing activities in the territorial waters of other countries. Fishermen are fishing in Mauritania, Guinea Bissau and Georgia. In this context, approximately 600-700 million dollars were contributed to the national economy.
While aquaculture and fisheries production was calculated as 799 thousand 844 tons last year, anchovy, bonito, sardine, sprat, horse mackerel, bluefish, bluefin tuna and white mussel attract attention in the fishery products caught in the seas of Turkey.
In inland waters, pearl mullet, carp, silvery crucian fish and silverfish are mainly hunted, while sea bream, sea bass, trout and Turkish salmon are mostly produced in aquaculture.
In 2022, the most bonito was hunted to date, while in 2021 the most anchovy was caught.
Protection Activities
While a total of 87 conservation areas have been created in some regions for the protection and sustainability of fisheries stocks, there are prohibitions and restrictions according to the fishing gear and breeding times.
In addition, in order to give a one-time breeding chance to commercially hunted species, a minimum catchable height limitation was introduced.
An effective control mechanism is in place to ensure sustainable aquaculture, protect endangered and endemic species, and combat illegal hunting activities.
In this context, inspections are carried out by ministry teams at seas, landing points, transport routes, fish markets, processing facilities, mass consumption places and retail outlets. In 2021, 193 thousand inspections were carried out by the Ministry together with the Coast Guard Command, and a total of 27,6 million lira administrative fine was imposed.
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