Exports of the Aquaculture and Animal Products Sector reached 2023 billion dollars in 3,5. The Aquaculture Sector became the locomotive with exports of 1,7 billion dollars.
The Only Product Group to Pass the 1 Billion Dollar Threshold
Sinan Kızıltan, Chairman of the Turkish Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters' Association Sector Board, said: “As the Aquaculture sector, we are one of the sectors that first achieved our 2023 export target. In 2023, our sea bass exports increased by 2 percent to 517 million dollars, our sea bream exports increased by 12 percent to 418 million dollars, while Omega-3 rich Turkish salmon increased by 9 percent to 376 million dollars. Our trout exports increased by 12 percent, reaching 112 million dollars, and our tuna exports reached 51 million dollars. We export to 92 countries and 42 percent of this is to EU countries. In 2023, we exported 325 million dollars to Russia, 188 million dollars to Italy, 156 million dollars to the United Kingdom, 149 million dollars to the Netherlands, and 118 million dollars to Greece. 67 percent of Turkey's aquatic products exports are carried out by our Aegean exporters. We left 2023 behind with aquaculture exports of 1 billion 127 million dollars in the Aegean Region. "The aquaculture sector has become the only product group within the Aegean Exporters' Association to exceed the 1 billion dollar threshold among food products." said.
Our target for aquatic products exports throughout Türkiye is 2 billion dollars.
Ufuk Atakan Demir, Member of the Board of Directors of the Aegean Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters Association and President of the Izmir Aquaculture Growers and Producers Association, said, “Our goal in Turkey's overall aquaculture exports is to reach 2 billion dollars. Turkey's aquaculture production and exports have come a long way, especially with the investments made in recent years. One of the factors that increase exports is that our Turkish entrepreneurs brought the world's most modern and integrated facilities in the aquaculture and animal products sector to our country in the last 20-25 years. We aim to direct the products of our industry to an important potential market with various projects to be planned for Africa, which is among our priority market in 2024. We introduced our industry abroad with our info-stalls and tasting events at fairs we attended all over the world, from China to the USA, from Russia to France, from Spain to Singapore. We aim to continue our work with the same performance in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Panama, Algeria, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. "In order to increase our efforts to exhibit Turkish fish in America, the European Union and China, we are planning to launch a Turquality project solely for aquatic products by joining forces with associations established in the Aegean, Istanbul, Mediterranean and Eastern Black Sea regions," he said.
