Of nets and men: the fishermen of the Bosphorus

3 April 2025Photos and text: Jérémie Labbé20 images

Des filets et des Hommes : les pêcheurs du Bosphore

01 / 20 · 3 April 2025Jérémie Labbé / Collectif DR

Every year, from September to March, dozens of boats cast their fishing nets in the northern Bosphorus in Istanbul (Turkey). At the mouth of the Black Sea, these “seiners” practice seine fishing, a very old technique that consists of deploying nets up to 1.5 kilometers long in a circle to encircle and catch the fish.

With the use of ever larger boats aimed at meeting an ever-growing demand in a megalopolis of nearly 20 million inhabitants, overfishing and its environmental impact are raising more and more questions and criticism. This is all the more true since the Bosphorus is a migration corridor of prime importance for many marine species, such as bonito, mackerel and several species of dolphins.

But behind these legitimate environmental concerns, fishing also has major socioeconomic and cultural importance. Istanbul and its inhabitants have always had a special relationship with fishing. Beyond being a hobby and a social activity for many Istanbulites, commercial fishing is also a source of income for hundreds of Turkish families.

The owners of “seiners” in Sarıyer, a former fishing village in the northern Bosphorus now part of Istanbul, have held historic fishing rights for several generations, passed down from father to son. For 7 months, they will go to sea with some twenty fishermen, often from the Black Sea coast, and share a daily life shaped by the casting and hauling of these endless nets.

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