Minister bans fishing in fight against ‘sea snot’
THE fishing season may be shortened to boost the marine life in the Marmara Sea, Environment and Urban Planning Minister Murat Kurum said on Wednesday.
In an interview with Sabah newspaper Mr Kurum said that fishing activities may be reduced as “sea snot,” or marine mucilage, lingers in the sea.
“We need to take measures to restrict fishing. We need the fish to thrive and mucilage reduced,” he added.
Currently, a fishing ban is in place and will be lifted in September. The thick, slimy substance consisting of a large number of microorganisms proliferated with pollution and climate change has taken hold in the landlocked sea for the past few months.
Fishermen were among the first victims of the sea snot — dealing a blow to their business. Photos of dead fish surfacing from below the mucilage spurred calls for urgent action.
Fishing is already suffering from climate change — which shrank the size of hamsi fish — a type of Turkish anchovy and one of the most popular fishes in the country.
Mr Kurum said sea snot has reached a thickness of eight centimetres in some areas and is threatening the ecosystem.
Devices to release oxygen into the sea-snot covered Marmara were placed at five different points in the Gulf of İzmit and off Pendik to contain the mucilage.
The mucilage has increased around the coast of the historical Gallipoli peninsula in northwestern Çanakkale province since Monday and has also spread in the area between Gallipoli and Eceabat in Çanakkale.
Although there have been reports of mucilage reaching the Black Sea and the Aegean, which are connected by the Marmara, experts do not expect it to spread that far due to the different geography of those regions.
Mucilage was reported in recent years as early as 1997 in the Dardanelles and the Marmara Sea.