An overview of molluscan shellfish industry in Turkey

Turkey is surrounded by the Black Sea in the North, by the Aegean Sea in the West, and by the Mediterranean in the South. The length of coastline exceeds 8,000 km. Turkey produces about 625,000 tons of seafood annually. The production of molluscan shellfish has reached 25,000 to 30,000 tons annually. Shellfish, especially bivalvia is not a traditional food in Turkey. Only mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis is consumed to any significant amount in large cities of western Turkey such as Izmir and Istanbul. Of the 55 million population in Turkey, it is estimated that no more than 1 % consume mussels regularly. Until recently, there was no interest in bivalvia in the domestic market. © 1991 by CRC Press, Inc