Turkey’s exports of fish to US up 88 pct

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

See bass is one of the most popular export items. Hürriyet photo

Turkish fish product exports to the United States were up 88 percent in the January-to-August period compared to the same period in 2011, said Turkey’s Aquaproducts Promotion Group.

Turkey’s Aquaculture Products and Animal Products Exporters Union Sector President Sinan Kızıltan said Americans love fish products and are huge consumers of packaged food.

According to Kızıltan Turkish aquaculture firms have been able to successfully penetrate the U.S. market because of both the Boston Aquaculture Fair and the Miami Food and Drink Fair. The Boston Fair in particular is the world’s second-largest aquaculture fair.

“When we look at the exports figures to the U.S. for the first eight months of 2011, we see that Turkey exported 409,773 kilograms of fish products, reaching $2.9 million. In the same period in 2012, we exported 563,542 kilograms of fish products, an 88 percent increase, registering $5.6 million. We mainly export sea bass and zander,” said Kızıltan, adding that Americans and Canadians like fresh fish like sea bass, sea bream and tuna that have been frozen.