Bio-diversity

The Van Lake, which is the largest lake in Turkey with 3,172 sqkm. The only fish species, which is a member of cyrprinidae family and endemic to Van Lake, is Chalcalburnus tarichi. The fish immigrates to the streams feeding the lake for the reproduction between April-July and returns back to the lake following its laying eggs. While immigrating towards the streams the population is highly accumulated in the rivers mouth. In total, 14 000 people depends on Chalcalburnus tarichi for their livelihood. While only 10% of the fishing activities are done during the winter out of reproduction period, the 90% of the fishing is done during the immigration period, benefiting from the high density of the fish in a relatively tidy area. The former being more sustainable, the latter is the traditional fishing practice. However, reports are underlining that this is threatening the sustainability of the species since it affects directly the breeding success. The over fishing has caused threats over the Chalcalburnus tarichi. As a consequence it is in IUCN red list since 1996. Another treat to the species is the irrigation from the streams. Excessive use of the water results in the drying up of the streams, where are the nesting sites of Chalcalburnus. Thus, the overall goal of the project is ensuring the sustainable fishing of Chalcalburnus tarichi. The project objectives are; (i) decreasing the pressure of fishing during the immigration in the mouth of the streams, and encouraging fishing during winter in the lake. (ii) promoting more effective irrigation practices in order to protect the water sources

Turkey