Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Mucilage Problem in the Sea of Marmara, Meriç Albay, Editör, Istanbul University, İstanbul, ss.217-232, 2023
Various studies have recently been carried out to assess the condition
of the Sea of Marmara's ecosystem and fish stocks. In this section, i)
The results obtained from these studies are synthesized to reveal the
ecosystem change and fisheries status; ii) The relationship between the
mucilage event and the fisheries, and the status of the important fish
stocks before and after mucilage events are evaluated; and lastly iii)
Recommendations are developed for better fisheries management and stock
sustainability. The Sea of Marmara has undergone a significant regime
transition in terms of ecosystem status and human-induced pressures
between 1994 and 2012. In this period, human-induced pressures increased
notably due to overfishing, increasing seawater temperatures due to
climate change, and pollution in the marine environment, especially via
the main city of Istanbul and the Gulf of Izmit. Furthermore, some
commercial fish and invertebrate species which were extirpated in the
Sea of Marmara fisheries or decreased by their catches more than 80%
were observed during this period. Especially, the majority of large
pelagic predator species have disappeared, which is a strong indication
of a failing marine ecosystem. The withdrawal of predatory species
during this transition period increased the stocks of small pelagic fish
and deep-water pink shrimp for benthic species. In addition to the
effects of other anthropogenic pressures (e.g., eutrophication via
nutrient and organic matter load) mentioned in the formation of mucilage
in 2007, fisheries, which alter the relative composition of species in
the food web and thus their interactions with each other, by targeting
only certain species (selective exploitation), appears to have a
significant effect. Subsequently, after the 2007 mucilage formation, the
SoM fisheries suffered the most economic damage.