Şemsi Bayraktar

Turkey's annual fishing season will open tomorrow after a 4.5-month ban as experts call for efforts to ensure the sustainability of sea products.

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Turkey's fishing season will end on April 15, with a countrywide ban effective until Sept. 1.

Turkey's poultry exports plummeted almost half in 2016 from the 2014 numbers, amid escalating risks in the Middle Eastern markets, said a top sector association. 

The association has called for a new strategy to boost exports, which are key for the sector. 

Turkey loses an average of over 15 percent of its calf population within one year of their birth, much higher than the developed world's average, and these deaths cost 3.9 billion Turkish Liras ($1 billion) annually, according to a leading agricultural association. 

The agricultural sector has contracted by 6 percent last year due to plunging exports and the consequent decline in prices in the domestic market, the head of a leading sector association announced on Jan. 5. 

Turkey is facing a huge loss in grain production in November and December after one of its most arid seasons for agricultural production in recent years, Agriculturalists Association of Turkey (TZOB) President Şemsi Bayraktar has stated.