TURKEY
Sahlanlar specialises in crayďŹ sh, rainbow trout, and pike perch
Exporting live, fresh, and frozen products to two continents Isparta, a city in the southern part of Turkey some 125 km inland from Antalya, is home to Sahlanlar, a company that produces and processes crayďŹ sh, wild-caught freshwater ďŹ sh, and farmed species. Isparta lies in Turkey’s lake district and is close to the Eáirdir lake, the fourth largest lake in Turkey, and an important source of the raw material processed by the company.
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ahlanlar, a family-owned company, focused on trading in seafood, when it was established some 60 years ago. At the time it was run by the father of the current owner. Since 1978 it has specialised in processing and exporting freshwater products. An important item in the range of products is crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) which are exported live, cooked, and frozen.
Crayfish resource decimated in the 80’s The stock of crayfish in Turkey in the 60s and 70s was about 5,000 tonnes. Sixty percent of this was cooked and frozen, an activity that was dominated by four or
five companies, and sent to Sweden. The remaining 2,000 tonnes was exported live to several European countries including France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Osman Sahlan, the current owner of the company, recalls how in 1985 the stock of crayfish in Turkey was badly ravaged by disease and, as a consequence, hunting was banned in all the lakes where the disease appeared. Despite this measure the stock dropped to an estimated 150 tonnes and only started to increase again in 2000. Today, the stock is 400500 tonnes. In 1986, the Egirdir Fisheries Research Institute, was established in Egirdir. Among its tasks was the monitoring of crayfish stocks.
Osman Sahlan is the owner of Sahlanlar in Turkey as well as a company in Uzbekistan buying and processing pike perch.
Volkan Demirkiran, the Sahlanlar sales manager, says the company exports 95 of its production.
Other wild fish that the company processes in to fillets include pike perch, perch and small volumes of carp and tench. Pictured, an impressive pike perch.
Part of this goes to Russia where Sahlanlar has exported 13 shipments of live crayfish this season, each consignment weighing between one and four tonnes. This varies depending on market conditions; Russia has its own production of crayfish and when there is plenty of domestic product the price goes down and Sahlanlar reduces its shipments. Russia has been a target market for many years ever since the company obtained a license to export wild-caught products there. Live crayfish, for example, are flown directly from Antalya to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and quickly distributed from there to retailers and restaurants. Just recently a license to export farmed products was obtained Eurofish Magazine 6 / 2019
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