At the Head Office, by the MÜSİAD Agriculture, Food and Livestock Sector Board, a panel with the theme “The Development of the Fishery Products Processing Sector and Its Contribution to the Turkish Economy” was organized.
At the Head Office, by the MÜSİAD Agriculture, Food and Livestock Sector Board, a panel with the theme “The Development of the Fishery Products Processing Sector and Its Contribution to the Turkish Economy” was organized.
Speaking at the panel, Sekizkardeş said that the fishery products sector is developing rapidly in Türkiye as it is all over the world and is showing continuous growth in response to the increase in need.
Sekizkardeş made the statement, "In our country, which is surrounded by seas on three sides, the fishery products sector is coming to hold strategic importance with each passing day with its contribution to added value and employment."
Noting that approximately 85 percent of the fishery products obtained from fishing and aquaculture in the world are consumed as human food, Sekizkardeş continued as follows:
"Almost all of the remainder is used as fish meal and fish oil, and a very small part is used in the pharmaceutical industry. According to area of use, 46 percent is used as fresh unprocessed, 39 percent as processed human food (canned, dried, smoked) and 15 percent as fish feed. In this context, the continuous development of the fishery products processing sector and the laying of its issues and problems on the table is of considerable importance for the country's economy.
The role of the fishery products sector in healthy nutrition is another important matter. In this context, together with the growing interest in the sector both at home and abroad, it is seen that efforts to develop the fishery products processing industry are on an increasing trend compared with the past. As of today, there are more than 100 companies in Türkiye processing and marketing fishery products. There are many faculty members and R&D staff carrying out research and development activities in this field."
Sekizkardeş stated that identifying the sector's problems and bringing those problems to a solution is important in terms of the sector's development and its economic contribution to Türkiye.
"We need to make strategic plans by placing the world before our eyes"
MÜSİAD Sector Boards and Business Development Commission Chairman Hikmet Köse, for his part, underlined that the perception needs to be changed somewhat for Türkiye to reach a position that will give direction to the world in the fishery products sector.
Köse said, "We need to make strategic plans on these matters not merely with commercial logic, not merely from the point of view of making money, but by placing the world before our eyes. If we are to display a stance on the world stage in every field, not only regarding fishery products, we need to make projections covering the whole world in every field."