Turkish fishermen prepare to weigh anchor for ‘abundant season’

Black Sea and Marmara Sea fishermen will start casting nets late on Aug. 30 amid hopes for a good season.

“If you look at the images, this year will go down in history. According to indicators, there will be lots of fish. Our people will eat a lot of fish at cheap prices. They will eat the Black Sea’s high-protein, fine fish,” said Ömer Kolcu, a fisherman in Rumeli Feneri on the European side of Istanbul.   

Fishermen in the Fatsa district of the Black Sea province of Ordu have also finished their preparations for the season. 

“This year there is abundance in bonito. After its absence last year, this year it is coming in abundance. This year small bluefish are also abundant,” said Mustafa Mollaoğlu, a local fisherman from Fatsa. 

Erol Bayraktar, another fisherman based in the Black Sea province of Sinop, said that after a disappointing hazelnut harvest in the area, their only hope was an abundance of fish.

“We have children in our hometowns, and homesickness is difficult – more so if you are at sea. We are okay as long as there are fish and we get the result of our labor,” said Bayraktar. 

The aquaculture resources cooperative president in the northwestern province of Yalova, Erdal Tokalak, also said fishermen experienced a tough season last year but that they were hopeful based on the information they had received for this year, while noting that Turkish fishermen would experience a severe blow if this year was also a failure.