Sea cucumber fishery in Turkey: Management regulations and their efficiency

Abstract

Sea cucumbers have a commercial importance worldwide but are facing over-exploitation and population collapse. The aim of this study was to document the fishing condition and illegal fishing on sea cucumber fishery in the Mediterranean coast of Turkey based on fishery reports, to ascertain the implementation and efficiency of management regulations. Sea cucumber fishing began in 1996 and expanded, now having 220 vessels extracting up to 1292 tonnes in 2019. Between 2015 and 2020, 80 tonnes of sea cucumbers have been seized and thrown into the sea in 541 infringements. Illegal activities differed in the geographical area covered and concentrated on Izmir shores in 2018-2019. Fishery regulations and fines implemented until 2020 were not effective as deterrent. Since 2007, sea cucumber fishery has had legal regulations including seasonal bans, licensing issues, market chain reporting, fishing vessels limits, and rotational harvesting. New regulations, based on quotas and fine amount increase, were effective in January 2020 due to illegal fishing. Consequently, there was a decrease in the number of infringements. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.