İzmir locals rush to sea to catch twenty tons of ‘runaway’ fish
İZMİR - Anadolu Agency
Locals from the Küçükbahce district of İzmir rushed to the seashore to catch the sea bass that escaped from a fish cage on Jan. 21, state-run Anadolu agency reported.
The fish cage, which contained some 20 tons of sea bass, was cast adrift in a storm and was severely damaged. After the cage was torn apart, the sea bass inside the cage escaped and swam towards the shore.
Locals rushed to the shore to catch the escaped fish with their rods. Locals, who caught buckets of fish, had pictures taken with their trophies.
“Sea bass is the treasure of Karaburun. People here catch lots of fish whenever offshore fishing farms are damaged by storms,” said Hasan Alkış, a fisherman.
The severe storm last week hit Izmir, disrupting sea transportation and uprooting trees in the city. Businesses and homes were flooded as the sea level rose as a result of the storm. Bass is produced in Turkey in a number of sea farms across the country.
The county’s bass production soared to 80,847 tons in 2016 from 17,877 tons in 2000, according to the latest data available from the Food, Agriculture and Livestock Ministry.
In the first eight months of 2017, Turkey’s bass exports amounted to 88 million dollars.
