© Minister of agriculture and forestry
Türkiye’s total fish production reached 1.02 million tonnes in 2025, marking the highest output in the history of the Republic, according to minister of agriculture and forestry İbrahim Yumaklı. Speaking at a meeting with fishers in Sarıyer, Istanbul, minister Yumaklı said the country’s quota system has played a key role in production planning and stock management.
“In 2025, fish production in Türkiye reached 1 million 20 thousand tonnes and broke the record in the history of the Republic,” he said, in a press release. “This really is a very large, massive figure.”
According to ministry records, around 400,000 tonnes of this volume came from wild capture fisheries, while approximately 600,000 tonnes were produced through aquaculture. Final official figures are expected to be confirmed by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) in mid-2026. Yumaklı underlined the sector’s growing contribution to the national economy, highlighting strong export performance:
“We have reached the US$2 billion threshold in exports, and this is extremely valuable,” he said. “For a country surrounded on three sides by seas, this is exactly what befits our fishers and our producers.”
The minister stressed that all major regulatory changes in recent years have been developed in consultation with the industry, including fishers, vessel owners and aquaculture producers.
Yumaklı described 2025 as a year in which Türkiye’s fishers again made a “very significant contribution” to the national economy and stressed that the government intends to maintain close cooperation with the sector in 2026.
“It has been a year in which our production broke records both in fishing and aquaculture,” he said. “We will continue to work in harmony and together with the sector so that 2026 continues in the same way.”
The minister concluded by wishing all stakeholders in the fisheries and aquaculture value chain a “prosperous, bountiful, accident-free and peaceful 2026.”
