14.2.2. Sustainable fisheries (community outreach)

In 2025, METU provided free outreach for local and national communities on the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture.

National workshop on sustainable marine aquaculture in the Black Sea (29 May 2025)

On 29 May 2025, the METU Institute of Marine Sciences, as Türkiye's national hub for the Black Sea Common Maritime Agenda, coordinated the hybrid workshop 'Sustainable Marine Aquaculture in the Black Sea: Sectoral Cooperation and Future Approaches', hosted in Trabzon by the Central Fisheries Research Institute (SUMAE) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, under the national coordination of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. It was aimed at the people who manage and work in aquaculture – public institutions, aquaculture industry representatives, researchers and policy makers – and built on a first national workshop on innovative aquaculture held in December 2023.

Sessions covered the state of the blue economy and sustainable aquaculture in Türkiye, experience of farming Black Sea salmon, the FAO perspective on sustainable fisheries, Türkiye's role in the Common Maritime Agenda and funding for cooperation in the Black Sea, algae-based farming with new technologies, new sustainable protein sources, fish feed from marine microalgae, and consumer expectations and branding for aquaculture products. Participants discussed production models that can withstand environmental pressures, sustainable practices along the value chain and public-private cooperation, and the day ended with a tour of SUMAE's aquaculture units. Registration was open online to anyone working in the field.

https://ims.metu.edu.tr/tr/slayt/karadeniz-ortak-denizcilik-gundemi-turkiye-ulusal-etkinligi-0

Blue economy and marine planning talks for practitioners in 2025

METU CLIMATE also spoke to practitioners on managing marine resources sustainably: at a marine spatial planning workshop with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, UNDP, the Turkish Marine Environment Protection Association (TURMEPA) and the Turkish Shipbuilders' Association, where the planning of sea areas and the blue economy were discussed; and at the Mersin Consultation Club's 'Mersin and the Sea' meeting, with the talk 'Climate-resilient blue economy: Mersin's sustainability journey'.

 https://iklim.metu.edu.tr/sites/iklim.metu.edu.tr/files/birim_faaliyet_raporu_ocak_2025_0426.pdf

Context

The METU Institute of Marine Sciences in Erdemli (Mersin) has studied fish populations in the north-eastern Mediterranean for decades, including how eutrophication, fishing pressure, climate and invasive Lessepsian species have changed them over 40 years.