Development of Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries Management in Turkey

Turkish coastlines is an important fishing ground for small and large scale fisheries due to having rich marine biodiversity since it is surrounded by four different characteristic seas i e Black Sea Sea of Marmara Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea from north to south Small scale fisheries have been performed along the Turkish coasts for a long time and provide an important source of livelihood for the people Especially in developing countries it enables some significant contributions such as nutrition food security sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation Since the importance of sustaining small scale fisheries is being increasingly recognized characteristics of small scale fisheries have a great importance in order to make the regional sustainable management models due to its various local applications This paper suggests that a framework known as the livelihoods approach can help bring a fuller understanding of small scale fishery In this context it has been examined and evaluated using official data and our field observations concerning on small scale fisheries sustainability in Turkey The paper also have discussed to set out some preliminary conclusions about the management of small scale fisheries from a livelihoods perspective including long term and current practices in order to develop regarding sustainable small scale fisheries