The Present Situation of the Fisheries Sector in Iraq: A Critical Review

Abstract

In this review, the status of fisheries in Iraq is described. Iraq has two main water resources, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, forming a water area of approximately 700,000 hectares. Surface waters are distributed as natural lakes (39%), dam lakes (13.3%), and rivers and their tributaries (3.7%). On the other hand, marshes constitute 44% of the water sources in Iraq. The Iraqi government began recording fish production from wild and aquaculture in 1986. Total fish production from freshwaters in Iraq in 1991 and 1998 were 18,800 and 30,000 tons, respectively. In 2020, the total fish production in Iraq reached to 241,848 tons (Anonymous, 2022a). The bulk of fish production belonged to carps followed by barbs (genus Barbus) and trouts. With respect to capture fishing in Iraq, a variety of trawl nets (single-bag and multi-bag) and gillnets have commonly been used. The 1970s and 1980s were characterized by low consumption of fish meat (i.e., 4.3 kg in 1979), but it has gradually increased over the last years and has reached a remarkable 10 kg per capita in 2020. In this review, freshwater and marine fish species, aquaculture production and wild catch, institutions and centers specialized in researching and developing fisheries, fish meat consumption, problems of the fishing industry and potential solutions to develop the fishing industry in Iraq are outlined. This is the first study on the present status of fisheries in Iraq.

Keywords

• Aquaculture
• Barbus
• carp
• fish consumption
• fish production
• marine fish
• trout

Irak'ta Balıkçılık Sektörünün Günümüzdeki Durumu: Eleştirel Bir Derleme

Abstract

Bu derlemede Irak'taki balıkçılığın günümüzdeki durumu anlatılmaktadır. Irak, yaklaşık 700.000 hektarlık bir su alanı oluşturan Dicle ve Fırat Nehirleri olmak üzere iki ana su kaynağına sahiptir. Bu su kaynaklarının %39’unu doğal göller, %13,3’ünü baraj gölleri ve %3,7’sini akarsular ve kolları oluşturmaktadır. Öte yandan, Irak'taki su kaynaklarının %44'ünü bataklıklar teşkil etmektedir. Irak hükümeti, 1986'da (4.000 ton) doğal ve su ürünleri yetiştiriciliğinden elde edilen balık üretimini kaydetmeye başlanıştır. Irak'ta tatlı sulardan elde edilen toplam balık üretimi 1991 ve 1998 yıllarında sırasıyla 18.800 ve 30.000 ton olmuştur. Ayrıca, 2020 yılında Irak'ta toplam balık üretimi 241.848 tona ulaşmıştır. Balık üretiminin büyük bir kısmı sazandan elde edilir. Bunu Barbus ailesi ve alabalık takip etmektedir. Irak'ta balık avlamak için farklı tipte trol ağları (tek torbalı ve çoklu torbalı) ve uzatma ağları yaygın olarak kullanılmaktadır. 1970'ler ve 1980'ler düşük balık eti tüketiminin olduğu yıllar olmuştur (örneğin, 1979'da 4,3 kg), ancak son yıllarda balık tüketimi kademeli olarak artmış ve 2020'de 10 kg'a ulaşmıştır. Bu derlemede, Irak'ta tatlı su ve deniz balıkları türleri, su ürünleri üretimi ve doğadan avlanma, su ürünleri araştırma ve geliştirme konusunda uzmanlaşmış kurum ve merkezler, balık eti tüketimi, balıkçılık endüstrisinin sorunları ve Irak'ta balıkçılık endüstrisinin geliştirilmesi için olası çözümler ana hatlarıyla belirtilmiştir. Bu derleme Irak'ta balıkçılığın durumuna ilişkin ilk çalışmadır.

Keywords

• Akuakültür
• Barbus
• Sazan
• Balık tüketimi
• Balık üretimi
• Deniz balığı
• Alabalık

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