Turgay Türkyılmaz, the Director General of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, emphasized that they have established a system that will track anchovy hunting from the sea to the market. He indicated, “We have identified landing points for anchovy hunting in every region of Turkey. No one will be able to land their catch wherever they want, and our teams will be on duty in those areas.”

Türkyılmaz provided information regarding the developments in the fishing sector. He mentioned that during the regulatory process, they consulted with industry representatives. According to Türkyılmaz, the new regulations they implemented established production planning for both hunting and breeding. He recalled that approximately 275 thousand tons of anchovy were hunted last year, representing 63% of the total hunting yield. Türkyılmaz stated, “We must make this sustainable. That is why we included anchovy in the production planning.” When determining the fish species under the production planning, sustainability and the country’s competitive power were taken into account. Türkyılmaz explained that the regulations will be reviewed annually for necessary updates. He emphasized that anchovy is at the center of the production planning. “Under the quota system, the annual catchable anchovy amount was set at 400 thousand tons. This entire amount was allocated to vessels eligible for this hunting. We allocated the catchable amount to each vessel. Each vessel knows the amount allocated to them and can hunt accordingly. For a 12-meter vessel, the anchovy quota was set at 260 tons annually. For larger vessels, this amount can go up to 2 thousand tons.” he highlighted.

“QUOTA CONTROL WILL BE CONDUCTED” Türkyılmaz pointed out that a vessel that applied for anchovy hunting this year would not lose its rights for the following year. He reassured that fishermen need not worry about this issue. Türkyılmaz assured that fishermen would not face any issues even if they do not reach the specified quota amounts. He disclosed that they were conducting inspections to monitor the specified anchovy quota. Türkyılmaz continued, “We have identified landing points for anchovy hunting in every region of Turkey. No one will be able to land their catch wherever they want, and our teams will be on duty in those areas. Vessels will enter the tonnage they hunted into the tracking system. This information will reach our teammates at the harbors. When the vessel docks, our teammates will issue a transfer document regarding the amount caught by that vessel. They will then proceed to sales locations with this transfer document. Therefore, we have established a traceable system for anchovy from hunting to sales.”

“CITIZENS ARE SATISFIED WITH BONITO” Türkyılmaz noted that the bonito fishing season is going well, and he predicted an increase in anchovy hunting after October 15. Due to bonito fishing, the number of vessels hunting anchovy is currently very low. Türkyılmaz urged fishermen to comply with the established rules, stating that fishermen who do not abide by the rules can be banned from fishing for a month. If violations persist, the penalty could double. Türkyılmaz mentioned that over 15 thousand tons of bonito have been caught since September 1, compared to around 3 thousand tons in the same period last year. Türkyılmaz highlighted that this season, citizens are satisfied with bonito. “Bonito is a migratory fish. We had abundant catches in our territorial waters. Now, it is migrating towards other regions in the Black Sea, and we expect it to return to our waters.”