Pearl mullet poachers fined 1.2 mln liras
VAN
A total of 170 people have received administrative fines totaling 1.2 million Turkish Liras for disobeying the restrictions on hunting pearl mullet, an indigenous fish species thriving in Lake Van’s waters.
As the hunting ban for pearl mullet from Apr. 15 to Jul. 15 is still in effect, protection activities for the species also continue at full speed.
Within this framework, a total of 55 tons of pearl mullet, 15 tons of which are alive, have been seized so far in the fight against poachers.
While the captured live fish were returned to the water, the dead fish were disposed of.
On the other hand, an administrative fine of 1.2 million liras was imposed on 170 poachers.
Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Görentaş stated that the gendarmerie, police and other relevant units carried out an intensive struggle during the hunting ban, and two boats and 8,000 meters of extension nets were also seized.
Görentaş reminded that pearl mullets had some problems with the decrease in the flow rate in the water resources due to drought and noted that they made a great effort to minimize the problems caused by drought.
