Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
FishBase / SeaLifeBase Symposium, Brussels, Belçika, 4 - 05 Eylül 2023, ss.1
Eastern Mediterranean is a typical data poor region where it has limited or incomplete information available about various ecological, physical, and chemical parameters that are crucial for understanding and managing marine environments. Turkish waters are particularly challenging for researchers, conservationists, and policymakers because those marine regions hinder our ability to make informed decisions about marine conservation, resource management, and the effects of human activities on marine ecosystems. In this sense, FishBase play a crucial role in bridging information gaps for researchers from data-poor regions, providing them with access to a wide range of data and knowledge that can contribute to their scientific endeavors and conservation efforts. Turkish researchers frequently use various data provided in FishBase, in which a total of 578 documents including research article, review article, book chapter, conference paper and notes were cited from 2004 to 2023.
Here, FishBase’s scientific impact and its importance for data poor regions are presented via a case study on status of fishery resources in the Sea of Marmara. It is a semi-enclosed sea that comprises the Turkish Straits System along with the Çanakkale and Istanbul Strait and a transition zone between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea. The fisheries characteristic is mainly coastal for benthic/demersal species by beam trawling, and the rest is seasonal pelagic fishery by purse-seines related to seasonal migrations of pelagic species. The total landed catch has been gradually declining in years, with the lowest catch observed during the last years. If the total catch in the 2000s is 100%, it was about 60% in 2010 and 35% in 2022. Landed catch showed dramatic declines in demersal fishes followed by pelagic fishes while trends were almost stable for small pelagic fish. The mean trophic level of the catch gradually decreased from 2000 to a minimum in the 2022 meaning withdrawal of predatory species such as European hake, turbot, and Atlantic bonito during 2000s, which led to the dominance of prey species such as anchovy, Mediterranean horse mackerel and deep-water pink shrimp in 2010s. Although total vessel number decreased by its 1/4, LPUE values did not show any increase, instead, gradually decreased after 2010, indicating stocks are declining and fishing effort are no longer sustainable as it is.