As of March 12, 2024, the “Decision on Supporting the Capture of Pufferfish” (“Decision”), under Presidential Decree No. 8246, was published and enforced within the scope of Law No. 5488, Article 19, within the Official Gazette No. 32487.
The decision regarding this regulation was prepared with the aim of reducing the existing populations and stock participation rates of foreign invasive pufferfish species spread across our country’s territorial waters, minimizing the damage that would be caused to the country’s fisheries and economy, protecting aquatic biodiversity and stocks, and ensuring the sustainable and rational use of resources. The decision focuses on supporting pufferfish fishing in the years 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Under the decision, the pufferfish species whose capture will be supported include: Lagocephalus Sceleratus, Lagocephalus Spadiceus, Lagocephalus Suezensis, Lagocephalus Guentheri, Torquigener Flavimaculosus, Tylerius Spinosissimus, Lagocephalus Lagocephalus, and Sphoeroides Pachygaster.
According to Article 2 titled “Support,” fishermen with valid licenses who catch the invasive pufferfish species listed in Article 1 will receive the following payments:
- For the capture of Lagocephalus Sceleratus, up to 150,000 individuals (including 150,000), 25 Turkish Lira per individual.
- For the capture of Lagocephalus Spadiceus, Lagocephalus Suezensis, Lagocephalus Guentheri, Torquigener Flavimaculosus, Tylerius Spinosissimus, Lagocephalus Lagocephalus, and Sphoeroides Pachygaster, up to 125,000 individuals (including 125,000), 10 Turkish Lira per individual.
The necessary funding for the support payments mentioned above will be provided from the support budgets allocated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026. The decision also specifies that a commission of 0.2% of the support payments made to producers will be paid to T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. General Directorate.
- It is important to emphasize that since the support payments are made from public funds, they will not be subject to procedures such as attachment, enforcement, assignment, or similar actions before being transferred to the rightful fishermen’s account.
It should be noted that in order to prevent the misuse of this support policy, Article 4, titled “Control, Recovery of Unjust Payments, and Deprivation of Rights,” has been included in the regulation. Under this provision, measures to ensure the supervision of support payments will be determined by the Ministry. The procedures and principles for the implementation of the decision will be specified in the implementation communiqué issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the relevant units will be responsible for checking the documents presented to them and ensuring the correctness of the prepared documents. Legal and administrative actions will be taken against individuals who cause unjust payments or those who prepare and use false or inaccurate documents.
Furthermore, the decision regulates that if these payments, sourced from the public budget, are made unjustly, they will be reclaimed with delay charges and statutory interest calculated under Law No. 6183 on the Collection of Public Claims. In this regard, it is foreseen that both the individuals or entities that caused the unjust payment by preparing documents and those responsible for the collection of reclaimed amounts will be jointly liable.
Lastly, with the provisions of the Decision, individuals or legal entities who benefit unjustly from payments, unless the payments are made due to administrative errors in the documents, and those who fail to repay excessive payments made due to administrative errors, will be prohibited from benefiting from any support program for five years. This regulation ensures the prevention of misuse of the decision’s intended regulations.
- You can access the Official Gazette dated March 12, 2024, and the Decision on Supporting the Capture of Pufferfish enacted by Presidential Decree No. 8246 from the links provided.
- If you require further detailed information, please do not hesitate to contact us via the contact numbers below.
