Alburnus tarichi

The three-month hunting ban, which was initiated during the breeding period of the pearl mullet, an endemic fish species residing in Lake Van, has ended.

Within the scope of the annual hunting ban for pearl mullet which started on April 15, intensive measures were taken to prevent poaching.

A total of 170 people have received administrative fines totaling 1.2 million Turkish Liras for disobeying the restrictions on hunting pearl mullet, an indigenous fish species thriving in Lake Van's waters.

As the hunting ban for pearl mullet from Apr. 15 to Jul. 15 is still in effect, protection activities for the species also continue at full speed.

Locals and tourists have thronged around "Deli Çay," roughly translated as the "Crazy Stream," in the eastern province of Van's Erciş district to see pearl mullets' migration.

Pearl mullets can live in the salty waters of Turkey's largest Lake Van, leave their habitats at the beginning of April and migrate to streams to reproduce.

Fishermen have set off to Lake Van, Turkey's largest lake, to catch pearl mullet as the fishing ban ends on July 15.

Completing all their preparations, fishermen living in settlements on the shores of the lake have set out in the early hours of the morning on July 15, calling out "Vira Bismillah," meaning "raising the anchor in the name of God" in Turkish.

The challenging migration of pearl mullets, an endemic fish species found only in Turkey's eastern Lake Van, has started as their spawning period began.

The pearl mullet, the only fish species in Lake Van, migrates to freshwaters by swimming inversely to the flow in their spawning period between April 15 and July 15.

The migration of pearl mullets, a fish species living in the Lake Van region, has started. The fish migrate through the lake's tributaries in May and June for the spawning season every year, but they always have to contend with predatory seagulls that try to hunt them.

Underwater photographer Tahsin Ceylan, who previously discovered coral which was thousands of years old during his research in Turkey's eastern Lake Van, recently found a pier built with Seljuk-era gravestones.