(AA)
An incentive scheme launched by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry to catch invasive pufferfish has spared the country’s marine ecosystem from an estimated 50 million of the species, a senior ministry official has stated.
According to Turgay Türkyılmaz, director of aquaculture at the ministry, invasive species migrating through the Suez Canal pose a major threat to Mediterranean fisheries and marine life. He highlighted pufferfish as a primary culprit, noting a government hunting incentive was introduced in 2020 to tackle the crisis.
Highlighting the program’s success in safeguarding marine life and supporting local fishermen, Türkyılmaz added that neighboring Mediterranean countries have adopted similar buyback programs based on Türkiye’s example.
Türkyılmaz emphasized that a subsidy of 35 Turkish Liras per fish is paid for the Lagocephalus sceleratus Pufferfish — the most harmful of the eight pufferfish species found in the country’s territorial waters — and 10 liras for other species. He also noted that fishermen participated in such high numbers that they reached the 2026 cap of 200,000 non-spotted species almost immediately.
In response, a presidential decree maintained the subsidy rates and the 100,000-unit limit for the spotted pufferfish, while increasing the purchase limit for other species from 200,000 to 1 million units.
“Over the past six years, 665,000 pufferfish have been removed from the ecosystem. Of these, 276,000 were Lagocephalus sceleratus pufferfish, the most harmful species. In this context, our fishermen received subsidy payments totaling approximately 13 million liras at current value,” he said.
“According to scientific calculations, pufferfish catching has prevented approximately 50 million new pufferfish from entering the ecosystem. We estimate that the fight against pufferfish will be carried out much more effectively once the catch limit for other species is raised to 1 million in 2026,” Türkyılmaz said, adding that each pufferfish is counted and recorded upon delivery.
Türkyılmaz emphasized that the ministry relies on field data and continuous monitoring to track the spread of pufferfish, allowing them to make regional policy adjustments as needed.
