An analysis of historical landing data of some pelagic species caught by purse seines in the Aegean Sea

Abstract

The fishing activity with purse seines in the Aegean Sea accounts for almost half of the pelagic fish excluding anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus Linnaeus, 1758) in Turkey. In this study, we aimed to analyse the catch amounts of some important pelagic species caught by Aegean purse seiners between 1973 and 2019. While mid-1990s are the most captured years for the European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus Walbaum, 1792) in Aegean Sea and also Turkish Seas, this amount has decreased at the level of 10000 mt in the mid-2000s and remained similar amounts up to now. Though European pilchard was the most caught species in the Aegean until 2011, this has changed in favour of anchovy in the last decade. Recently, almost all pelagic species such as mackerel (Scomber scombrus Linnaeus, 1758), chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, 1782) and bogue (Boops boops Linnaeus, 1758) have been caught from the Aegean Sea in Turkey. In the study, the production of these species in the historical period was tried to be associated with the regulations implemented with circulars and notifications, and the problems preventing the sustainable use of these species that were caught by purse seiners were determined and solutions were proposed for the future.