Fisheries law

He ruled out demarcation of the EEZ between Palestine and Turkey

Fish stocks in the Black Sea are dwindling and commercial fishing is causing more and more environmental damage, causing concern that has grabbed the attention of NGOs and EU lawmakers. 

Fishery production in Turkey posted a 6.1% decline last year on an annual basis, the country's statistical authority said on June 4. 

The fishery production totaled 785,811 tons in 2020, according to TÜİK figures.

The total fishery production comprised 37.1% caught sea fish, 5% other sea products, 4.2% inland water products, and 53.6% aquaculture products, it noted.

Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos detailed Turkey's role as an agent of instability in the Eastern Mediterranean at a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) online conference today on EastMed security challenges.

Turkey and Egypt could negotiate a maritime demarcation agreement in the eastern Mediterranean if the course of the ties paves the way for such a move, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on March 3 while welcoming Cairo's exploration bids that had respected Turkey's continental shelf.

Russia has urged Greece and Turkey to engage in dialogue over their maritime disputes, while recognizing the right of states to determine their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZ) under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The population of bluefish has been declining at an alarming rate in Turkey's Marmara Sea mainly due to pollution and overfishing, experts have said.

There is an alarming decrease in the stock of bluefish in the inland seas due to overfishing and pollution, said Saadet Karakulak, an academic from Istanbul University's Faculty of Aquatic Sciences.

Greece's extension of its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea does not affect the Aegean Sea, Turkey said on Jan. 20.

ISTANBUL - Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in an announcement Wednesday that Greece's extension of its territorial waters from 6 to 12 miles does not regard the Aegean Sea and repeated the country's objections against such an extension in the Aegean.

With 284 votes in favor and 16 "present," lawmakers approved legislation on Wednesday to extend Greece's territorial waters along its western coastline from six to 12 nautical miles.