Fish restaurant operataors' evaluations on sustainable fisheries: The case of Istanbul

Fishing is an important source of livelihood for coastal countries, as well as an important source for providing animal protein needs and physical development. Fishing, which is the livelihood of many people, is divided into various branches in itself. Declining fish stocks and predictions about the future of fisheries have created the concept of sustainable fisheries. The management of fish restaurants in the fish sector have personal duties and responsibilities to support sustainable fisheries. The aim of the study is to investigate the evaluations of fish restaurants in Istanbul about sustainable fishing. Within the scope of the research, businesses were determined by homogeneous sampling and a qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interview forms. The obtained data were divided into themes and codes to reveal the attitudes of business owners about sustainable fishing. As a result of the answers from the enterprises, it was concluded that for sustainable fishing, it is necessary to reduce the pollution in the seas, to stop the wrong and overfishing activities, to be inspected by public institutions by increasing the precautions and bans, and it has been understood that the role of fish restaurants in sustainable fishing is important.