Fishing industry

With the conclusion of the fishing season in the Turkish seas, the annual hunting ban has commenced to ensure wildlife conservation and sustainable resource management.

In a statement declaring the fishing ban starting from April 15, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı said that this year's season witnessed a bountiful catching.

Cronos represents the third discovery of a natural gas reservoir in Block 6 of the Cypriot EEZ, along with Calypso (2018) and Zeus (2022)

Allegations over fishing boats carrying out activities close to the shore and in shallow areas in the Bosphorus, especially off the coast of Sarıyer, violating the 24-meter depth limit and harming fish populations have sparked controversy.

The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has conducted approximately 67,000 inspections in the first half of the year as part of its campaign against illegal fishing, fining thousands of fishermen and workplaces who did not comply with the regulations.

In the first six months of 2023, the General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture teams conducted 66,764 inspections.

For the umpteenth time in the history of Greek-Turkish relations an effort is being made to avoid tensions, reach a minimum understanding, cooperate on issues of mutual interest and hold talks on more serious issues.

The recent announcements in Israel by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a pipeline that will transport natural gas from Israel's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to Cyprus for liquefaction (LNG) and export to European markets have, analysts say, all the makings of a new energy reality in the region.

Turkish fishermen have thrown their nets into the sea to catch 2,600 tons of bluefin tuna in the international waters of the Mediterranean and off Malta within the framework of the quota allocated to Türkiye until July 1.

"There is still no official act on the basis of which the Bulgarian fishing vessels are detained, and this raises serious concerns," Deputy Minister of Agriculture Georgi Sabev told journalists in Balchik during a meeting with the fishermen whose vessels were detained at the port in Constanta.

Fines of more than 37 million Turkish Liras ($2.1 million) were given during inspections for illegal fishing, while 480 tons of fishery products and 169 ships without fishing licenses were confiscated in 2022, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has announced.

The ministry stated that 199,702 inspections were carried out against illegal fishing last year.

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