Evaluation of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Trawl Infringements Committed by Turkish Fishing Vessels

Abstract

This study analyses a highly damaging and prevalent fishing practice of trawl infringements, which is one of the crucial components of IUU fishing in Turkish waters. The raw data gathered from the Turkish Coast Guard Command (TURCG), covered 2012 – 2014 period. Data covered a total of 1040 trawl infringements, with considerable differences in trawling violations among the seas surrounding Türkiye; the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. With respect to trawling infringements, the Sea of Marmara (37%) and Istanbul Strait (15%) were the hot points. The most common infringement type was trawling in a closed area (43%) and when combined with the rate of infringements on trawling during the closed season (10%), these violations accounted for 53% of spatio-temporal infringements. Regarding illegal trawling by vessel type, trawl vessels had a 44% share and non-trawlers had a share of 56%, of which included infringements by other type of fishing vessels (46%) and non-fishing vessels (10%). It was also found that infringement by vessels smaller than 12 meters in length had a share of 46%. These vessels (known as "şebeke" in Turkish), trawl illegally using small types of nets and gears in coastal waters without giving any obvious indication of fishing activity. The results of this study will be useful to policy-makers, practitioners and scientists to successfully combat trawling infringements by providing information on distribution, intensity and methods of trawl violations.