Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Mehdi Eker said that Turkey has made substantial progress in fishery products. Pointing out that Turkey, which is surrounded by seas and numerous lakes, has taken promising steps in this particular field in the last five years, Eker also said that Turkey has become a country that exports fish owing to the measures taken.There are 1,659 fishery facilities in Turkey, where the first trout farm began to operate in 1970 and sea bass and gilt head bream farms in 1985.
Noting that fishery production has grown from 60,000 tons in 2002 to 150,000 tons in 2007, Eker underlined that the fishery sector was one of the sectors that has attracted foreign direct investment (FDI). Fishery product exports have increased from 22,000 tons in 2002 to 50,000 tons in 2007, raising the total export revenue from $96 million in 2002 to $233 million in 2007. The Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Affairs seeks to increase the figure of total fishery product exports to $1 billion by 2023, when the centennial of the foundation of the republic will be observed.
Turkey ranks 36th in fishery production in the world and fifth in EU member countries. FAO lists it as the third fastest growing country in this field in 2007. Turkey's share in the European fishery market has reached 25 percent. The Ministry of Agriculture aims to increase the current fishery capacity of 150,000 tons to 600,000 tons by 2023 through investments in southeastern Anatolia.
Stressing that Turkey has great potential for fishery production with its 7 million acres of wetlands, Minister Eker said: "The world's fishery production is 140 million tons, and the EU's production is about 7 million tons. Turkey has started making progress in this field."
Eker, who noted that fishery consumption is eight kilograms per head in Turkey and that the world average is 16 kilograms, underlined that consumption by Turks increases in parallel with fishery production. Eker further said: "There has been a 300 percent capacity increase in Turkey's fishery production, and the fishery sector is one of the sectors that attract large sums of FDI. Some 25,000 people are employed in this sector in which $1.5 billion is being invested."
In an attempt to fulfill its goals in fishery production by 2023, Turkey has identified potential production sites in Adana, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, Hatay, İzmir, Mersin, Muğla, Ordu and Trabzon. The Ministry of Agriculture has taken important steps to harmonize Turkish legislation with EU standards for environmentally friendly production. The ministry, which is anticipating $500 million in revenue out of fishery production in 2010, has set up special units charged with the supervision and monitoring of fishery farms.
