Bonito

Turkish waters have experienced an unprecedented bounty in the first half of the fishing season, marking a three-decade high, with the northern coasts proving exceptionally rich in fish diversity, according to fishermen.

Fishermen in the Black Sea region are hopeful that they will catch plenty of anchovy in this hunting season that will start on Sept. 1.

However, bonito will probably be in short supply, said Atıf Malkoç, the head of the Samsun Region Aquaculture Cooperatives Union.

A traditional Turkish seafood dish called "Sinop lakerda," which reflects thousands of years of marine and fishing culture of the northern province of Sinop, has become the first seafood product ever to receive a geographical indication.

"Sinop lakerda" is a pickled dish prepared by slicing toric or large bonito fish, native to the Black Sea region.

Following the weather returning to seasonal normal in the last few days, fishermen have started to stare at the sea again, hoping that there will be plenty of anchovy besides bonito with the cold weather.

Fishermen who could not find what they hoped for in the sea for a while due to the hot weather, expect a considerable increase in fish they hunt.

Experts are foreseeing plenty of bonito in the new fishing season that has kicked off in Türkiye after a five-month hiatus, with the number of anchovies declining as the number of fisheries has decreased around 30 percent in the last decade.

Following the end of a five-month ban, the fishing season has kicked off in Türkiye, with experts foreseeing plenty of bonito in the Black Sea.

Overfishing has triggered a trophic cascade in the Black Sea, making local fishermen, who set sail to catch bonito, return home empty-handed.

Istanbul fishermen who set sail in the Marmara Sea after the end of the five-month seasonal fishing ban on Sept. 1, have come across schools of mackerel, a fish that used to be plentiful but has rarely been seen in recent years. 

The fishing season has started and the bonito fish is knocking on our door. But do not rush to eat the first bonitos of the season that have survived the massacres of illegal fishing. This fish will become much tastier in one week. For one week, try to absorb this information about bonito and hang on…