Turkish scientists recommend strict measures across the Marmara Sea are desperately needed if the region is to protect fish stocks and prevent more species from going extinct, according to experts meeting Sunday in Istanbul. Bayram Öztürk, president of the Turkish Marine Research Foundation, or TÜDAV, said that Turkish seas have been left to their fate. Species such as mackerel, swordfish and tuna are rapidly going extinct. Now it is the turn of the bluefish.
Öztürk also said that Marmara Sea and the Princess Islands should have protection zones, also requesting that more purification plants should be set up. The government has banned trawl net hunting in the Marmara Sea but it still goes on, says Ozturk. Kamuran Patrona, the Ankara representative of the Mugla Culture Fisheries Association, told that unless we have a fisheries ministry or an undersecretary, we will be holding such meetings a lot more.
Yalçin Güney Çelik of the Bostanci Aquaculture Cooperative said that illegal fishing in the Marmara Sea ia yet another problem and due to this nearly 113 fish species have gone extinct. “Controls against illegal fishing should be more frequent. Erdogan Kartal, chief of the Istanbul Aquaculture Cooperatives, called for sustainable fishing.
