Fish

The nurse sharks were being fed at the time

Some 262,297 tons of fish were caught in seas surrounding Turkey in 2021, with the anchovy topping the list, the country's official statistical institution, TÜİK, announced.

"When the distribution of sea fish caught was examined, the highest quantity is anchovy with some 151,598 tons," TÜİK said in a statement on June 2.

Turkey's fishing season closed on April 15 with a countrywide ban effective until Sept. 1, but some fishermen around the Black Sea ended their activities even earlier this year due to the threat from floating naval mines.

Anchovy herds have returned to the Black Sea as the temperature rises, prompting the price of Turkey's popular fish to plunge.

The price of anchovy rose sharply earlier this season as anchovy herds migrated to the shores of Russia and Georgia since the southern coast of the almost landlocked sea was warmer than in previous years.

Meet Methuselah, the fish that likes to eat fresh figs, get belly rubs and is believed to be the oldest living aquarium fish in the world.

Experts have encouraged the consumption of lionfish to control the spread of this invasive species in the seas in Turkey, saying that the fish have already been added to restaurants' menus and are being sold in big cities' fish markets.

Overfishing has triggered a trophic cascade in the Black Sea, making local fishermen, who set sail to catch bonito, return home empty-handed.

Lionfish that feed on offsprings of other species and became a massive invasive species in the Mediterranean are now seen in the waters off Turkey's Aegean coasts, an expert has warned.

The first fish caught in the Marmara Sea with the start of the new fishing season on Sept. 1 are horse mackerels and striped red mullets.

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Rising in the steep mountains of Eastern Anatolia and reaching the Black Sea by collecting water from many streams as it passes several provinces, Kızılırmak, Turkey's longest river, has been on the agenda with mass fish deaths seen in recent weeks.