Biological oceanography

Fish caught in Turkey's Marmara Sea can be consumed without any doubt unless it's raw, a senior official has said, amid public worry that the fish weren't edible due to marine mucilage, a jelly-like layer of slime that invaded the sea this summer.

Mucilage that invaded and threatened the marine biome of the Marmara Sea alarmingly is no longer seen on the surface of the sea thanks to the intensive cleaning efforts, Turkish Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum has said.

Turkey could have launched an eco-fishing approach in the wake of the marine mucilage that invaded Turkish seas early summer due to rising temperatures and pollution, but it missed the opportunity, according to an expert.

A field study conducted to examine the marine mucilage, which invaded the Marmara Sea a few months ago, has revealed that though the sea's surface is now clean thanks to the ongoing efforts, the threat is not over yet.

The study has once again brought to the horizon the need to address the problem of pollution that has become a grave environmental concern.

There is no danger in consuming the fish caught from the Marmara Sea that was cleaned of mucilage in a nonstop operation in three months as authorities did not detect any risks after making countless tests, two experts have said.

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Large globules of mucilage which had been sighted since March in the Sea of Marmara offshore Turkey's largest city of Istanbul are now absent.

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Work initiated by Turkey's Environment and Urbanization Ministry to combat mucilage, also known as sea snot, has yielded significant results.

The presence of marine mucilage in the depths of the Marmara Sea continues to be a threat even though it was cleared from the surface of the sea a few weeks ago, according to the latest exploration studies carried out on the surface and bottom of the sea by an expert.

Experts are concerned about the consumption of fish coming from the Marmara Sea, which has been covered with a thick, foamy layer of marine mucilage since April, daily Milliyet has reported.

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When asked if people could freely eat fish coming from the Marmara Sea, most experts and scientists hesitated to give a direct answer with a "Yes."

Mustafa Sarı, a professor from the Science Board - established to coordinate efforts to fight against mucilage that has invaded the Turkish waters, has said that long-term solutions are needed to rescue the Maramara Sea from sea snot.

"Since we cannot change the conditions in nature what we have to do is very simple: We have to stop waste from being disposed into the sea," Sarı said.

Almost a month after authorities launched a massive cleaning campaign, no trace of marine mucilage was detected in the north of the Bosphorus Strait, which is the entry point of the upper current coming from the Black Sea.