Turkey’s continued over-fishing of bluefin tuna is a serious problem, according to an official of European Commission.
“We have a real problem with Turkey on this issue,†the European commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, Maria Damanaki, said Friday. Turkey is also under fierce criticism from environmentalists for ignoring the agreed-upon quotas for the endangered species.
The Turkish government has promised to cooperate, said Damanaki, without elaborating further on reactions from Turkish authorities when she raised the issue during talks she held last week in Istanbul and Ankara.
She said the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or ICCAT, in the first week of November in Paris would be important to see Turkey’s position.
Damanaki said Turkey’s cooperation was also needed in the Black Sea, where Turkish fishermen take in 80 percent of the fish caught.
The European commissioner said she was extremely impressed by the boom in the maritime sector, but that there is a need to regulate the growth to avoid the negative consequences of uncontrolled expansion.
