EU feasts on Turkish sea bass, bream

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey’s aquaculture exports to the European Union have risen 264 percent in the last 10 years, the Agriculture Ministry said yesterday. Exports to the EU make up about 80 percent of total exports.

Turkey supplies some 25 percent of the sea bass and sea bream consumed in Europe due to rising government support to the local aquaculture industry, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday in a written statement, citing data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 
Turkey is also leading European countries in trout production, the statement said. 
The ministry first started to support aquaculture in 2011 with 181 million liras, a figure which hit a total of 737 million liras in 10 years, the statement read.

“The Turkish aquaculture industry ranks fifth with European Union countries. Turkey registered record increases in aquaculture exports between 2002 and 2011. Aquaculture exports rose nearly 264 percent to $448 million during this period,” the ministry said.

Turkey’s total amount of aquaculture production rose to 185,000 tons in 2011 from 61,165 tons in 2002.
Turkey has 720 inland fish producers with a total production capacity of 197,000 tons. A total of 368 local salt water fish producers have a combined production capacity of 174,521 tons.