Quantification of The Problem Caused By Isopods in The Small Scale Fishery in The Southern Aegean Sea, Turkey

Abstract

Isopods are small crustaceans that some species damage to target species of small scale fishery. The objective of the study was to determine the
monetary loss in small scale fishery caused by isopods. Data were collected from set netters and long-liners by using face-to-face questionnaires
on the southwest of Turkey including 3 fishing sites named (Boğaziçi, Güllük, and Göktürkbükü) in May 2019. Results showed that for the
year 2018 the annual mean value of estimated monetary loss of set netters was 10,357 ± 5,799 Turkish Lira (TL). All fishers reported that
the impacts of isopods were higher at night than at day time. Accordingly, 52% of fishers noticed that they had to change their fishing period.
Regarding the seasonal differences, 61% of fishers declared that damaged fish ratio was higher in winter than other seasons. The main potential
reasons of this issue were reported by fishers as habitat degradation and pollution caused by fish farms and waste waters of tourism units. In
conclusion, this issue decreased the profit of small scale fishers and the rate of fish influenced by isopods showed an increase for the last five
years. The bio-ecology of isopods in the study area should be investigated to understand the solution ways of this problem in further research.