TURKEY
Horeca sector. Seabass can easily be filleted which affords a wide range of options when preparing it compared with seabream. Restaurant chefs like this flexibility that seabass offers, which is why producers tend to cultivate more of it than of seabream. Mr Toguc buys his larvae and feed from among the many big producers in the area. Suppliers vary depending on the situation—if one is not be able to provide the larvae at the time or in the quantity he needs, he approaches another. Currently, whole fish is the main product form for the association’s members, but Mr Toguc is trying to get the association to invest in a processing facility which will enable more value addition, for example, gutted fish, fillets, other kinds of packaging, and even frozen products. The next step would be to establish a brand for the product that will highlight its origin in earthen ponds and from which all the members of the association
could benefit. Currently the fish is sold unbranded but at the retail level it is recognised for its high quality and its appearance and commands a price that is 10 to 15 higher than comparable sea farmed fish, says Mr Toguc. Creating a brand that reflects these characteristics would be a good way to exploit the reputation the fish already enjoys.
The association’s strength lies in the common approach taken by its members Each year the members of the association decide together how they should produce. This includes agreeing on the number of fingerlings that should go in the ponds for the next year, the proportion of seabass, seabream, meagre, or other species, the size the fish should be grown to, and other production parameters. When there are differences
of opinion, the majority prevails. Being part of an association makes it easier to find and negotiate with customers, says Mr Toguc, as there is strength in numbers and the volume of fish produced by the association as a whole, at about 4,500 tonnes, is much larger than that of an individual member. This gives the association a certain weight when dealing with traders. The organisation also works to ensure that issues like traceability and sustainability are addressed in the relevant local legislation, that changes are made to rules which discriminate against them, and it offers advice to the local government on proposed laws that have a bearing on its members. The association in turn is a member of the central union of producers which unites associations from the sector from around the country to give them a voice at the federal level. While a small family-owned businesses is most concerned about local issues, this structure enables
it to be represented in the corridors of power at different levels in the system.
Fish raised in earthen ponds have sensory and visual characteristics usually associated with wild-caught fish. Farmers can demand a mark-up for individuals larger than the one pictured.
The Istanbul fish auction
The first sale of commercially caught Black Sea fish The İstanbul Gürpınar Fisheries Market has been operating from its curent location since 2015. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality subsidiary ISUON A S. is responsible for the market which is the biggest in Turkey with annual sales of 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of both farmed and wild fish.
T
he market is co-located with the Istanbul fish auction. Auctions are held throughout the year, though during the fishing season (September to March) there are many more auctions than at other times. While both farmed and wildcaught fish is sold at the market it is only the latter that goes
through the auction, as prices for the farmed products are standard ones.
Black Sea catches provide most of the fish at the aution Sıxty percent of the fish sold at the auction comes from the Black
Sea, and most of the rest comes from the Sea of Marmara which borders Istanbul. Small quanitities of fish from the Aegean and the Mediterranean are also sold through the auction. Turkish catches of fish and seafood amounted to 331 thousand tonnes in 2020 of which 60 comes from the Black Sea. The rest is split
between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean of which the latter has the lowest share of the total catch. Anchovy, horse mackerel, and bonito are the species most sold at the auction in terms of volumes. Some of the fish arrives in transport vessels which range from 30 to 60 m in length. The transport vessels Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2021
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