Locals protest plans to establish fish farms in Mersin’s Melleç Bay
MERSİN – Demirören News Agency
A group of locals on July 24 protested against a public meeting scheduled to seek input on the draft environmental impact assessment (“ÇED” in Turkish) for the construction of a potential fish farm in the Meleç Bay of the southern Mersin province’s Anamur district.
The locals consisting of Anamur Mayor Mehmet Türe, representatives of various political parties and NGOs as well as members of environmental organizations, held banners reading “Do not pollute our sea” and “No to fish farms.”
During the protest, the mayor said they were against fish farms, especially at a time when the region would “receive its share from tourism.”
As a result of the protests, the public meeting could not take place.
Melleç Bay, 10 kilometers away from the Anamur center, houses an important monk seal breeding cave, which has led the Forestry and Water Affairs Ministry to declare the area as an environmentally protected place.
