Environmental crime

Turkish Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Units have successfully uncovered an illegal wildlife trafficking operation in Istanbul's Küçükçekmece district.

Home renovation debris and assorted rubbish including toilet bowls, old sofas and broken TVs are piling up on Mount Aegaleo on the outskirts of Athens, endangering the sparse remaining greenery and also increasing the risk of wildfires.

A few days prior to the start of the fishing ban, fishermen say this season has not been productive, while an expert attributes the decrease in the species in Marmara to overfishing and pollution.

Police have identified a husband and wife, aged 70 and 65, who dumped waste in fields in the area of Diavata in Thessaloniki and charged them with violating environmental protection laws.

The 65-year-old owns a company that specializes in emptying and cleaning cesspools and unblocking blocking hydraulic installations.

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has sent a letter to Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell calling for the implementation of the regulation banning imports of fish from Turkey into the EU due to the practice of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by Turkish vessels in Greek terri

The amount of fish caught in 2021 has decreased across the country, while water pollution and overfishing have reduced the fish stock in the Black Sea, according to an expert.

Stressing especially on overfishing, Ahmet Şahin from Sürmene Marine Sciences Faculty of Karadeniz Technical University (KTÜ), warned, "The amount of fish caught in the Black Sea decreased visibly."

Izola – The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food has launched a national campaign to promote local fisheries in a bid to raise awareness among consumers about the positive aspects of fish and mussel as food and about local fisheries traditions and heritage.

Fish stocks in the Black Sea are dwindling and commercial fishing is causing more and more environmental damage, causing concern that has grabbed the attention of NGOs and EU lawmakers. 

Poachers have killed at least six elephants in a single day in Ethiopia, wildlife officials said on Tuesday, the largest such slaughter in memory in the east African nation.
The elephants died last week, when they ventured out of the Mago National Park in the far south of Ethiopia to drink water, Ganabul Bulmi, the park's chief warden, told reporters.

After fishing activities have been banned within the scope measures against the coronavirus outbreak, the number and diversity of fish in Turkish seas will increase, according to an expert.

Ertuğ Düzgüneş from Karadeniz Technical University said the fish population will reproduce during the spawning period of May and June without any fishing activity.