I would like to start my speech by thanking Güven Genç for creating a Turkish resource by bringing back to the agenda the very valuable Sturgeons, which were able to roam freely despite the overfishing at the junction points of Sakarya, Kızılırmak and Çoruh Rivers with the Black Sea and other coastel areas until the 1970s.
The decrease in the species belonging to the Sturgeon Family , which is considered very important among the igratory fish species living in our waters , and teir place on the red list among te endangered species is actually a worldwide problem. I would like to convey to you that you should never forget the sad voice of the old fisherman from the Sakarya river region, who said, “I am very sad and regretful now, because their caviar is very valuable, especially because they were caught with hundreds of hunting vehicles at the starting points of the rivers where they came for spawning and that they did not give them the right to breed once to continue their generation”.
Sturgeons are a species that has the right to live, like other fish that roam, grow and feed over the Black Sea, the Marmara Sea and the Aegean, actually in the entire Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean.The main reason for its extinction is based on history.Due to its high nutritive properties, caviar is extremely expensive, which has been the financial and food of the aristocratic segment, especially in England, from history to the present;increasing its importance even more, it has not escaped being the center of attention of humanity even today.
After the 1990s, the declining stocks were replaced by the myrtle species obtained through intensive breeding. Species that produce high quality and expensive caviar, which are suitable for production, were selected under the growing conditions Some juvenile fish were released into the natural environment by fishing, thus causing their complete extinction from the natural environment. tried to be delayed. However, the main issue is to eliminate the problems of migration to spawning places, that is, to very distant points of rivers (150-600 km or more) Unfortunately, the world cannot give a good test in terms of preventing the extinction of fish as the new generation of fry continues to be caught by hunting and the pollution problem continues to increase. The work carried out for the Tuna River in Europe is somewhat exciting. However, Turkey cannot show the same success on Çarşamba’s precious.Yeşirlırmak and HES’ler on it, levees, sand and gravel quarries and others are the main problem. Over time, these problems have been thought about in our country, projects have been produced and studies have been made for the lives of fish. However, the growing population has caused the problems of people to continue, increasing the expectations of the people and the disconnection from nature even more.
Sturgeons, which are the magnificent fish of the past and told locally by our Güven Genç Teacher on Çarşamba, were brought to the agenda again with this book, and it was like an invitation to remember the Sturgeons, to remind them, and to fulfill our responsibilities towards them again. Kind Regards..
Prof. Dr. Devrim MEMİŞ
