Mackerels, mullets first fish of season

ISTANBUL

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.

“We have mostly horse mackerel. We also have anchovy and mullus. There is no blue fish. We also do not expect bonito this year,” Hakan Görmüş, a fisherman, told journalists in Istanbul’s main fish market in the Gürpınar neigborhood.

Fishermen put out to the sea in the early hours as the fishing ban that started on April 15 finished on Sept. 1.

Around 9 a.m., some boats returned to the shore to bring the first fish of the new fishing season.

Volkan Çimen, a fish broker in the Gürpınar market, announced the prices of the fish.

A kilo of mackerels may be between 15 to 25 Turkish Liras ($1,80 to $3), he said.

“The price will surely decrease in a week as these are the first fish.”

He did not give any price for striped red mullets, saying, “It can always change with fish. Last year, a kilo of it was sold between 49 to 80 Turkish Liras [$4,80 to $9,60].”

Görmüş expected that the price of a kilogram of mullets will be around 80 to 90 Turkish Liras ($9,60 to $10,80) in local markets.