Illegal Fishing
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Decrease illegal fishing activity in No-Fishing Zones
Improving
Gökova Bay to Cape Gelidonya
Türkiye
Problem: Unregulated and unsustainable fishing in the Mediterranean Basin has led to a sharp decrease in the last 20 years in the catch size and number of target species in local fisheries. This decline in the abundance of native fish populations has also led to less intact trophic webs.
Action: No-Fishing Zones (NFZs) have been established by the government in collaboration with AKD and local fishers to create areas of protection and to ensure more sustainable fishing practices. Patrolling deters illegal fishing activity inside NFZs.
Indicator: A decrease in the number of illegal fishing events indicates the level of community acceptance of local NFZs. A decrease in illegal fishing events also indirectly reflects ecological benefits of reduced pressure on fish populations, allowing fish abundance and overall biomass to increase.
Methods
The project established a Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool, known as SMART. An phone app collected GPS-integrated data about patrolling routes, times, distances, and incidences of illegal activity. This data was fed into the SMART database. Patrol rangers used the SMART app to record illegal incidences of fishing encountered on patrols in No Fishing Zones. From this the number of illegal fishing events was recorded and standardised for patrol effort (e.g. incidences per 10 km of patrolling).
Marine patrols were conducted in four project areas during the project period: Gökova, Göcek, Kaş, and Datça-Bozburun. However, the Kaş area was under active enforcement only for one year, in 2020. Patrols were initiated in 2023 in Datça-Bozburun, but active enforcement was not achieved in the area until 2024. Therefore, two areas (Gökova and Göcek) were under active enforcement for more than a year between 2019 and 2023.
Results
In both Gökova and Göcek, the number of illegal fishing incidents detected per patrol hour was significantly lower at the end of the period, in 2023, compared to the start (2020 for Gökova and 2021 for Göcek). However, there was no consistent year-to-year trend.
Figure 1: Illegal fishing incidents recorded per 10km patrolled, in Göcek and Gökova.
Interpretation
In Gökova, the average number of patrols annually remained constant, except for a drop in 2022. Despite this, illegal fishing incidents per hour patrolled declined from 2020 to 2023. This appears to indicate the effectiveness of consistent enforcement in reducing incidents, even when patrol effort is slightly lower.
In Göcek, patrol effort fluctuated between 2021 and 2023. Interestingly, this area exhibited more sensitivity to changes in patrol effort, as fluctuations in enforcement levels appears to directly correlate to the number of illegal fishing incidents recorded. Patrols in Göcek started more recently and the increase in incidents during 2022 suggests that maintaining or increasing patrol effort during the early stages of enforcement is critical to achieving sustained reductions in illegal activities.
AKD patrol boat. Photo: AKD.
Publications
Kızılkaya, Z., Saydam, E., Walker, K. et al. Progress and challenges of multi-habitat marine restoration in the eastern Aegean Sea, Türkiye. npj Ocean Sustain 4, 12 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-025-00114-9
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