Aquatic Products and Animal-Based Products Sector Exports Rise 4%

Turkey's aquaculture and animal products sector has surpassed USD 2.5 billion in exports over the last 12 months. The Turkish aquaculture and animal products sector, which is targeting USD 3 billion in exports for 2023, increased exports by 4% from USD 2 billion 436 million to USD 2 billion 523 million in the period of 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021. The aquaculture sector claimed the lion's share of aquaculture and animal products exports at USD 1 billion 108 million, while the poultry sector contributed a record USD 773.5 million, consisting of USD 496 million from poultry meat and USD 277.6 million from egg exports. The dairy products sector, which received export approval to China, brought USD 310 million in foreign currency to the country, while honey exports reached USD 25 million. Other products covered under the aquaculture and animal products sector achieved USD 306 million in export performance.

41% of exports originated from the Aegean Region

In the USD 2.5 billion in exports achieved by the Turkish aquaculture and animal products sector over the last 12 months, the Aegean Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters Association claimed the lion's share at USD 1 billion 25 million. The Aegean Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters Association, which delivers aquaculture and animal products with a wide range spanning from Turkish salmon to chicken, from eggs to cheese, from butter to honey, from intestines to sea urchins, from mussels to sea cucumbers, from sea bass to trout, from gilt-head bream to dusky grouper to all corners of the world, has become the fourth association within the Aegean Exporters Associations to exceed USD 1 billion in annual exports.  

Girit: "We have entered the Champions League among exporters associations"

Bedri Girit, Chairman of the Aegean Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters Association, stated "We have surpassed the critical threshold of USD 1 billion in exports. We have entered the Champions League among exporters associations," and noted that more than 40% of Turkey's aquaculture and animal products exports are carried out by Aegean exporters. Touching on the fact that the sector's export products are produced in Turkey, Girit said, "The USD 2.5 billion in foreign currency that our aquaculture and animal products sector has brought to Turkey may appear modest when compared to industrial sectors, but when it is considered that nearly all of this figure is obtained through domestic production and nearly all of its added value remains in our country, the importance of the added value provided by our sector will be more clearly understood."  

United Nations declares 2022 as International Year of Fisheries and Aquaculture

Explaining that the sector has shown significant growth in Turkey since the 2000s, Girit concluded his remarks as follows: "According to the 'Export 2021 Report' shared with the public by our Turkey Exporters Council recently, in 2035, in the ranking of sectors with the highest export growth, the Aquaculture and Animal Products Sector will be the second sector to increase its exports the most at 297%. We will work with all our might to achieve the targets set for 2035. The United Nations General Assembly's declaration of 2022 as the International Year of Fisheries and Aquaculture has further increased our motivation."  

76% of Aegean exports derive from aquaculture

The Aegean Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters Association, which meets the protein needs of world tables, brought USD 1 billion 25 million in foreign currency to Turkey between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. The aquaculture sector made the largest contribution to the Aegean Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters Association's USD 1 billion 25 million in exports at USD 776 million 228 thousand, while the white meat and egg sector in the Aegean Region achieved USD 145 million 37 thousand in exports, consisting of USD 81 million 3 thousand from poultry meat and USD 64 million 34 thousand from eggs. The dairy products sector, whose morale rose following receipt of export approval to the People's Republic of China, achieved USD 62 million 70 thousand in exports, while the honey sector, negatively affected by global warming, recorded USD 11 million 573 thousand in exports.