General Status and Growth Potential of Fisheries Sector in Northern Cyprus

The island of Cyprus is a growing region in terms of the aquaculture sector. Northern Cyprus, in particular, is very weak for the aquaculture, although its environmental conditions are very favorable for aquaculture. While the number of fishers in Northern Cyprus was around 30-40 before 1974, the number of registered fishers has reached 1167 today. There are two existing cage facilities in the region, and there are no juvenile production facilities and feed mills. The amount of fish obtained from the natural stock with the fisheries activities are also limited. However, the amount of fish produced by aquaculture has been increasing since 2015 and today exceeds the amount of fish obtained from natural stock. The effect of the tourism sector on the increase in aquaculture and fish production is remarkable. In the country, for per capita meat consumption, fish product consumption ranks fourth. To increase the amount of fish consumed, a couple of suggestions made. This review has the most up to date data about fisheries and aquaculture sector for North Cyprus.


Geographical location and climate characteristics of Northern Cyprus
Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily and Sardinia and located in the Eastern Mediterranean region (Figure 1). The nearest mainland region of Turkey is about 65 km from the North (Çatalbaş et al., 2010). Cyprus has typical Mediterranean climate characteristics. It is characterized by warm, rainy winters affected by cyclones moving westward and long, hot and dry summers caused by the continuous atmospheric collapse controlled by the Asian monsoon and Hadley circulation. Cyprus is also severely affected by global climate change conditions (such as global warming) (Hadjinicolaou et al., 2011). With a coastal length of 396 km, North Cyprus holds approximately 50.6% of the coasts throughout the island. There is 19.3 km of coastline suitable for fishing in the country, which is equivalent to a total area of 8780 km 2 (Üçışık & Şahin, 2014).

History and current situation of fisheries in Northern Cyprus
In 1950, the fishing fleet across Cyprus; consisted of 320 non-motor sailing boats, 19 motor-sailing boats, and ten fishing boats. A total of 960 fishers and crews were employed, and total fishing reached 460 tons/year. Speargun, extension net, long-lines, wire basket, bottom net, and occasionally using dynamite were aimed at hunting coastal-demersal species.
In 1974, fisheries data could not be collected during the eventful process that lasted until the separation of two communities, north and south. While the number of fishers in Northern Cyprus before 1974 was around 30-40; currently, there are 1167 registered fisher as commercial and amateur (TRNC Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2018;Ulman et al., 2015).  Trawling was only attempted between 1993 -1997 and banned in 1998 due to damage to marine ecology (Ulman et al., 2015). Besides, the hunting and collection of economically valuable species such as all kinds of sponges, seahorses (Hippocampus hippocampus), sea meadows, Pinna sp., etc. were prohibited (TRNC Council of Ministers, 2014).
The first data on the total annual amount of seafood in TRNC is 66 tons from 1986. Between 1990 and 2006, this amount was around 400 tons. With the development of tourism and the university sector, the need for aquaculture has increased over the years, and production has risen in parallel (Üçışık & Şahin, 2014). The change in total fish production in the TRNC since 2004 is shown in Figure 3. Accordingly, it is observed that production is steady in some periods but increases regularly. The highest value in terms of total fish production in the island's history was reached in 2017 with an output of 1018 tons. In 2018, this value returned to the level of previous years. When we look at the real growth rates in the fisheries sector shown in Figure 4, it is noteworthy that there is a significant similarity with Figure 3. In order to understand the reason for the striking similarity between 2016-2018 in the growth rate of the fisheries sector and the total fish production charts, it is necessary to look at the situation in other industries in similar periods. When we look at the country statistics at that time, it is observed that there is a related change in the hospitality and restaurant sectors ( Figure 5). When the fluctuations in all graphs evaluated, it can be concluded that total fish production is determined by the total amount of tourists visiting the country during the year.

Aquaculture in North Cyprus
The first aquaculture trial conducted on the island of Cyprus was held in 1944. Carp and breeding were done in 2 sand ponds in Kumköy region (Servet S. Dedeçay, 2002). The total registered production amounts of the two sea bream and sea bass farms mentioned above in Northern Cyprus shown in Table 1. Table 1. Status of total aquaculture fish production in North Cyprus by years (Vurana, 2019).

Years
Sea bream (tons) When Table 1 is examined, it is not seen that the total fish production has increased regularly over the years. However, the sudden rise in 2017 is in line with the values discussed in Figure 3. In 2017, 60.8% of the total production of 1018 tons of fisheries and aquaculture sectors in North Cyprus came from aquaculture. This percentage is the period in which aquaculture has the highest role of output compared to previous years. In 2018, this ratio increased to 76%. This value is an indication of the effect of tourism on aquaculture and fish production quantities rather than the fishing sector.

Sea bass (tons) Total
Department of Animal Husbandry of Northern Cyprus by the acquired information produced by aquaculture products is mostly limited to the domestic market. It is also known that a small amount is exported to Turkey. The political situation of Northern Cyprus suppresses production activities. In Figure 6, the total amount of fish produced since the beginning of the aquaculture sector is compared with the fisheries sector by years. It is seen that the amount of fish caught from the fish stock is progressing to a certain level. Nevertheless, it is seen that the amount of fish produced with aquaculture has increased rapidly since 2015, and has been leading the way since 2017. According to data given in Figure 7, chicken is the most preferred meat source in North Cyprus. Fish consumption had the fourth-order. Data after 2015 is not yet available.

Suggestions and Discussion
In North Cyprus, aquaculture is a growing sector compared to other countries. The population of the country is continually increasing with external migration, and the need for nutrients increases accordingly. The political situation of the TRNC suppresses the export of the produced fish, and production is limited to the demand in the domestic market. The people of TRNC prefer red meat and chicken meat as a protein source. One of the reasons is that they can be used in all meals daily. However, red meat and chicken meat can be offered to the market in different forms. Fish products are sold after cleaning of flakes, and internal organs. Local people, on the other hand, consume these products by cooking them by grilling or roasting. Most people choose to use alternative sources of protein as they do not want to bother with fish preparation.
To increase the demand in the domestic market of these products, which are highly beneficial for human health due to their ease of digestion, omega 3 fatty acids content, and high/quality protein amounts, it will be helpful to develop processing techniques in addition to production activities. Raising marketed fish such as sea bream and sea bass in fresh or frozen forms by creating various alternatives such as fillet, fish meatballs, or sushi instead of offering them to the market as a whole will positively affect the demand for seafood.
Fish pieces from fillets and other forms can be converted into the fish meal in a state-based collection unit and turned into fish feed by adding appropriate mixtures. A feed mill to be established in the country will reduce the feed costs of fish farms, which will help to sell the produced fish at a more affordable price. If the aquaculture sector is further advanced in the following years, a juvenile production facility can also be established in the country and supply less costly juveniles to local businesses. As shown in previous sections, tourism, hotel, and restaurant sectors make the most significant impact on fish consumption. The number of tourists coming to the country is severely suppressed for political reasons. Aquaculture businesses will not be able to improve on political issues, but it is in the hands of the operators to make the best publicity of the sector. People from many parts of the world travel to different regions for sport fishing. Within the farms, individual sections can be developed, and sportfishing tourism can be created.