Fish sellers fined in İzmir for selling ‘too small’ fish

İZMİR

In a dawn operation that took place at 4 a.m. teams imposed fines amounting to around 6,460 Turkish Liras to the businesses owners detected to be selling fish that were too small. AA photo

The authorities have staged a raid on the İzmir fish market, confiscating 310 kilograms of fish that were ruled to be smaller than regulations permit. 

In a dawn operation that took place at 4 a.m. on Nov. 7, teams from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry imposed fines amounting to around 6,460 Turkish Liras to the owners of seven businesses detected to be selling fish that were too small.

Since the beginning of this year, a total of 27 tons of fish have been confiscated in İzmir, with fines totaling more than 11,400 liras, Anadolu Agency said.

Fish sellers’ observing of regulations with respect to hunting season bans, fish height restrictions, and species limitations are monitored in official checks, said Yaşar Kayabaşı, a unit manager from the ministry’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Directory.

Kayabaşı added that as part of efforts to crack down on the illegal catching of fish, the ministry also audited fish markets in the Marmara provinces of Bursa and Balıkesir over the summer. 

Large industrial fishing boats and trawlers are not permitted to traverse the seas surrounding Turkey from April 15 to Sept. 1, the legal period of a fishing ban on large boats in Turkey. However, many environmentalists and analysts have been pressing for extension of this ban by at least one month, saying the period from April to October is the crucial time for fish to lay eggs.