COVID-19 measures beneficial to marine biodiversity: Expert

TRABZON

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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.

Düzgüneş, a fisheries technology engineer, predicted that this increase will have a positive impact on the upcoming fishing season.

“The fish seeds of this year will grow and join the stock next year. In the future, they will also have fish seeds. So, there is an increase,” he said.

Stressing that the fish stocks have decreased in recent years, the academic said the fish diversity in the seas will also be enriched amid the pandemic measures.

“The more we relax the bottom part of the food chain, the more it relieves the upper ones. Biodiversity increases, the amount of each species increases in the sea, their return will again be to the benefit of the fishermen,” Düzgüneş noted.

Defending that the banning of fishing can be prolonged with little support and rational planning, Düzgüneş pointed out that these bans are important benefits in maintaining measures until at least June 15.

On March 27, Turkey’s Interior Ministry announced that fishing would be banned as part of measures to mitigate the spread of the virus.