Erdemli Fisheries Cooperative head Yalçın Sakın, speaking to the Anatolia news agency, said that not only is the job of being a fisherman very hard to begin with, but in addition to this, fishermen in the region also face a variety of particularly difficult conditions and a lack of social security. Fishermen trying to fill their nets in the waters of the Mediterranean wake up early in the morning and encounter numerous problems before returning home in the evening. “For years and years now, fishermen have worked in an environment that doesn’t come close to providing them with any sort of insurance or social security. Catching five to 10 kilos of fish per day is just enough for smaller fishermen to make a living on. Fishermen who wish to set up any sort of social security for themselves need to catch at least 100 kilos of fish per day [to cover the costs]. But this is, of course, very difficult for the smaller-scale fishermen,” Sakın said.Sakın noted that the Mediterranean is definitely rich in fish, but fishermen are not able to make great profits since their catch is generally not sold directly off their boats, but via other channels. He said a lack of slipways where boats can be repaired has also been an enormous hindrance for fishermen along the coast. “We will overcome this particular problem when the slipways we are currently constructing are finally completed. And the cooperatives that we are planning to form in the slipways themselves will be places where fish can be sold directly to people and where fishermen will start earning greater profits,” he added.
Sakın also touched on the problem of fishermen who do not know the correct fishing methods, which is both reducing the profits of well-seasoned fishermen and creating problems for the fish population itself. “First and foremost, what we have taught the fishermen of Erdemli has been how to catch fish sustainably. In fact, teaching staff from the Middle East Technical University’s [ODTÜ] Erdermli Marine Science Institute have taught these courses. Our fishermen now want man-made fish habitats. That is why the agricultural directorate has ordered fish habitats to be created and thrown into the open seas. When these fish habitats are tossed into the sea, both regular individual rod fishing and boat fishing will increase in the region. In fact, Erdemli will become a center for fishing tourism. There will be many more fish caught, not only by fishermen trying to make a living, but also by amateur fishermen.”
Fishermen in Anamur
In Mersin’s Anamur district, adverse weather conditions meant that fishermen were not able to head out to sea for a couple of weeks. Instead, they spent time repairing their boats and tools, waiting for the weather to improve. One fisherman waiting on the banks of the Dragon River, Yılmaz Uygur, says he and others in his profession prayed for better weather. Uygur noted that the time spent waiting for the weather to improve was also used to fix and repair the tools of the trade, adding, “We use this shelter a great deal during the winter months; we mend our fishing hooks and repair our boats.”
Uygur notes that the most commonly caught types of fish in the area are grouper, sea bream, common bream and grey mullet. “These fish are sold for between TL 10 and TL 30 per kilo. This is region is home to very good quality fish, but it doesn’t receive the respect it deserves.” Voicing complaints about poor weather conditions as well as ignorant fishermen plying the waters, Uygur also notes, “When you add the damage done to our nets by certain predatory fish to the mix, we are sometimes unable to make a profit.”
In the town of Yumurtalık in Adana, which is more like a small fishing village than a town, fishermen spend all day repairing their nets and then from the evening until the morning go after a local fish called “cerbit.” Heading out into the waters of the Mediterranean in small and large vessels, these fishermen are sometimes able to come home with large catches, and when they do, they return to the port with huge smiles on their faces.
