EIE Report to the fish farms!

Muğla Governor Yiğenoğlu accompanied by the provincial and district administrative authorities met the owners of fish farms in Kıyıkışlacık village where fish died collectively and heard their problems.

The mass fish deaths seen in the fish farms situated in the Güllük Bay where Sarıçay pours into the sea, as of the October 3 put the provincial and district administrative authorities, particularly the culture fishing business firms into action.

Following the incidence of mass deaths, the procedure of reducing the number of fish farms from 133 to 85 and carrying them to 1100meters offshore and to the potential areas of at least 30meters deep has been accelerated with the collaborative work of Muğla Governorate and fish breeders. The EIE Report which was prepared consulting several ministries for determining the potential areas was brought on the agenda.

Muğla Governor Lütfi Yiğenoğlu accompanied by the provincial and district administrative authorities met the owners of fish farms in Kıyıkışlacık village where fish died collectively and heard their problems. Yiğenoğlu stating that the fish farms would be carried offshore prior to the tourism season went on to say, “The fish farms will be carried offshore swiftly before the tourism season takes off. Collective EIE Report will be obtained for this, if necessary. If the farms are not carried prior to the tourism season, it could be problem for the region”. Revealing that the outcomes of the reports inquiring the exact reason of the fish deaths would be ready and declared in a couple of weeks, Yiğenoğlu declared reported that fudging from the initial reports, however, the death might have been due to the decrease of the salinity of the sea water and abrupt temperature change of the water.

The Governor said the following in reply to a question “Has the breeder who carried the fish at his farm to another one off the Didim district of Aydın been fined?”: “It is true, he has been fined. The places where the breeders in the region will carry their farms have been identified and they have been asked not to carry their farms anywhere else. Moreover, the farm in the Didim district of Aydın to which the fish were carries has a limited capacity.”

Muğla Director of Provincial Culture and Tourism Office, Murat Süslü declared that no reservations were dropped at the hotels in the region and went on to say that not a single reservation has been dropped on account of fish deaths up to date. Süslü stated that tourism sector in Muğla which endeavors to uphold their targets to maximum level is damaged by the unfounded news items about the fish deaths.

Halis Şahin, te headman of Kıyıkışlacık Village and enterprise owner said that out of 133 fish farms in the region, 86 are made up of the members of their own mutual society. Reporting that applications, on behalf of the mutual society of 86 members and the other business firms coming together have been submitted to Muğla Governor’s Office for EIE Report and leasing procedures, Şahin added they are waiting to be presented with the EIE Report.

The breeders affected by the fish deaths said they submitted the necessary applications to Muğla Governor’s Office and that on the condition that they are given the EIE Report and a place is identified for them, they will carry their breeding farms offshore in 2,5 months at the latest.