The ship Akdeniz Araştırma 1 affiliated with the Mediterranean Fisheries Research, Production and Training Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry participated in studies on the fish ecosystem in the territorial waters of Lebanon. The 15-day work of the “Akdeniz Araştırma 1” personnel, who came to Lebanon within the scope of the cooperation of the Lebanese Government and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with Lebanese experts has come to an end.
Abbas Haji Hasan, Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, and FAO Lebanese officials attended the meeting, which was held to thank the ship crew and researchers who anchored in Beirut port before leaving Lebanon.
Minister Hasan described the study as “One of the important studies on revealing the fishing potential in Lebanon. It’s a step towards unlocking the country’s potential in the fishing industry.”. Explaining that Türkiye is among the countries that have made progress in the fishing sector, Hasan said, “We want to partner with countries that have made progress in fishing in the world and benefit from their experiences. A memorandum of understanding has been prepared between Lebanon and Türkiye to strengthen cooperation in this sector and I hope it will be signed soon. Türkiye’s experience in this regard is really important.”
“We compile 2 types of data here”
Coşkun Menderes Aydın, a Researcher at the Mediterranean Fisheries Research, Production and Training Institute, stated that they had been to Lebanon before and said, “We are in Lebanon for the second time. In partnership with FAO and the Lebanese government, we are investigating experimental fisheries resources here. Our aim here is to make certain inferences on the ecosystem with the data obtained and to make comparisons with other regions of the Mediterranean.”
Stating that they worked with their Lebanese colleagues for about 2 weeks, Aydın said: “This data was very valuable for them. We hope that these data will be used in the Lebanese fishing industry. Here we compile 2 types of data. The first is data on the species diversity and densities of fish, and the second is related to the biology of the fish. We can do the first data quickly in our laboratory on the ship after hunting. Other transactions are carried out by institutions in Lebanon. Then the data is combined and inferences are made on the ecosystem.”
“We scanned an area of about 650 miles”
Ali Özbolat, the 1st Captain of the ship Akdeniz Araştırma 1, also reminded that they set off on October 1st and said, “We entered the Lebanese territorial waters on October 3rd. We scanned an area of about 650 miles. From the coast of Tripoli in the north of Lebanon to the city of Sidon in the south… We scanned this entire area from 8 meters to 800 meters. We have identified areas that are good for fishing. We completed all our work in the region within 15 days.”