The Knowledge and Attitudes on the Sea Turtles of Small Scale Fishermen in the Aegean Sea

Abstract

In this study, the level of knowledge of the sea turtles that encounter fishing gears from time to time and the attitudes of fishermen on the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea to these living beings were investigated. Data were collected from a total of 404 fishermen in 98 fisheries cooperatives in 5 provinces (Çanakkale, Balıkesir, İzmir, Aydın and Muğla) by face-to-face survey between August 2016 and October 2017. It was ascertained that the 91% of fishermen, who participated in the survey, do not know what kinds of sea turtles are distributed in the Aegean Sea. The 95% of fishermen do not also know the role of these living beings that show wide range of distribution on world‘s oceans and seas, in the ecosystem. Moreover, it is revealed that the fishermen do not have enough knowledge about to perform an intervention in an injured turtle. After getting information from the informative brochures and awareness presentations about sea turtles, fishermen became familiar with the nature of sea turtles, they have changed their attitudes, approach and perspectives to them although they firstly behaved timid to participate in the studies on sea turtles. It is useful to make more social responsibility projects and collaborations with fishermen in areas where these living beings are intense in order to ensure the sustainability of sea turtles on the coast of Aegean Sea.