spearing altinkum, turkey

scottie3030 said:

hi guys

im off to turkey at the end of june and just wondering what i can expect see/shoot over there? and is there any regulations? any help would be much appreciated

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Hi Scottie.

It's bad news I'm afraid. If you're a foreign tourist, then you can't spearo alone with or without a boat.

You need to use a 'Amateur Fishing Tourist Guide' and get a 3-day pass.

And that is definite!!!

I know 'cause just a few days ago I was arguing with MARA, the official Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Ankara about their regs as I am going over to Marmaris in June and want to spearo alone AND THEY SAY I CAN'T.

turunc.

scottie3030 said:

turunc i found some posts on other forum made by yourself which answers my questions cheers buddy hope you have a good hoilday cant wait 2 weeks of sun,sea and chillin

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Hi scottie, again sorry to be the bearer of that bad news, but as I say and you've seen in more detail (on my www.zipkinci.com thread contribution I suspect) I've actually been talking in person last week to the Turkish Fisheries dept in Ankara. They are just adamant that foreign tourists can only spearfish in the presence of a guide NO MATTER WHAT. I'm sceptical whether I'd find a guide who takes spearos out (with or without a boat) , but last year I was talking to a guide (a boat owner) who took anglers out for the day from Marmaris.

I am going to e-mail back to the Fisheries dept reiterating that the official document does not explicitly exclude spearos that don't use a boat, but I doubt it will change anything.

I think the idea is probably that anyone that can freely move about in the water need watching over, just like their rule for foreign tourist scuba divers who need a guide too, even if they are from an official diving club. Obviously anglers can only really do that in a boat whereas sneaky spearos can do it with or without.

I'm therefore regretfully giving up on Turkey from a spearo point of view (though I am going to Turunc in June and will just practice my diving.). Instead I'm now looking at Greece in August and Zakynthos in particular. There is no silliness in Greece about needing a guide, just a matter of getting a 2-year licence from the local coastguard/port authority. Thanks to a guy who used to work as a scuba instructor over there, I'm going to a small resort which he says has nice shallowish reefs nearby and the coastguard is about 2 miles away so nice and near to go to get the licence from.

Which reminds me I've seen in more than one place that foreign spearos in turkey who have been caught 'guideless' have been fined about 6000 YTL (approx £2500.) Ouch and all their spearo gear was confiscated.

Naturally if I find anything else out regards the regs out I'll log it all here, but I'm not hopeful.

Enjoy Altinkum. I love Turkey, but never been to Altinkum.
When you off?

scottie3030 said:

thanks again for finding out what you have so far. shame they got these rules, its going to make getting away from are girlsfriends harder :martialwere off the end of june! my mate who were going with went freediving when he was over there last year and seen some nice bass just need to get someone to take us out to get them now

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Wow, just been contacted by one of the Turks on the www.zipcinci.com thread who is Marmaris based. He himself is just a general Tourist Guide and not a qualified Amateur Fishing Tourist Guide which is what Ankara say we need.

This guy though does spearo as a hobby and is not a beginner whereas I am really. He reckons he can sort me out with an official guide through his local contacts and the 3-day fishing stamp no probs.

I've asked whether I could get any tuition, and whether this guide has to be in the water etc, but had no reply yet. He's actually on holiday in Italy (where coincidentally www.medfish.com (click on local laws link in left-hand column) reckon you need no licence at all.) and said he'll be in contact when he gets back home to Marmaris to sort out the details.

This could work out really well with a supervised bit of spearo in June followed by doing it alone (legally) in Zakynthos in August.

Again will let you know the details.

Not sure how big a resort Altinkum is in this regard. Just looking at a map now and it's not really near any of the big resorts. Looks like Bodrum is the nearest. Maybe you could ask the local (Altinkum) tourist information office to put you in contact with a 'Amateur Fishing Tourism Guide' and take it from there.

Obviously have no idea of how much these guys wil charge, but my Turkish friend says that the prices charged by his contacts 'will be reasonable'.

turunc.

(P.S. I'm also awaiting confirmation of the Greek regs for foreign tourists from the Greek National Tourist Board who are contacting the Greek Port Authority on my behalf. At the moment it looks like EU citizens need to get a licence from the local Port Authority whilst over there and take a photocopy of the passport and two passport photos. Greeks have to do the same and also provide their Greek national tax number (AFM). One of the things that we're getting checked is to see if they need the equivalent of an AFM from us foreign tourists, but we suspect not.)

(P.P.S. As you can see Scottie. I go straight for the jugular to find these things out from those guys who actually 'make' the rules.. I generally read other contributors' views on regs in spearo forums with interest, but unless they can be formally backed up the way I do, then they are no more than just 'interesting'.)

scottie3030 said:

good work buddy leave no stone unturned i think like you said its best to check with the local tourist board when we get there! only 9 weeks to go :friday

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Cheers Scottie. I'm off in mid-June to Marmaris. Not heard anything from that tourist guide yet who said he would be able to fix me up with a 'fishing guide'. I fear I may have scared him off with the raft of questions I sent him.

Got the Greek situation finally sorted too thanks to the Maritime section of the Greek Embassy contacting the main Port Authority over there in Piraeus on my behalf. They have confirmed that tourists to Greece from the EU DON'T need a Greek tax number. They did last year but the Greeks got so much hassle from EU tourists that they ruled it impractical 5 months ago and scrapped the requirement.

So maybe next year, as like me you want to go and spearo privately on hols abraod, then go to Greece. This year the 2-year licence costs you 30 euros. I've been told you also need to have a surface buoy with you which is sensible as boats can be dangerous if they don't spot you.

Think my love affair with holidays to Turkey has now been severely dented and this years trip there could be the last for a while.

Off to Zakynthos self-catering for 2 weeks in August together with my OMER Excalibur 2000 gun.

Anyway see what the local tourist board say about getting you a fishing guide, but the message from Ankara is clear, as a foreign tourist to Turkey you need a fishing guide with you to spearo there - unfortuantely.

Let me know how you get on when you come back.

turunc.

Are you back Scottie?

How did you get on?

scottie3030 said:

hey buddy
i got back tuesday had a nice two weeks in the sun! as for the diving the girlfriend only let me out a few times,theres loads of bream over there at the min but not much else! i found it to hot (over 40deg everyday) and the time to be there is in january thats when the bass turn up according to some locals we got chatting to i think a boat would of been handy to get you out to some deeper water! as for licences we found that nobody cares what you get up to! and if you go off the beaten track you wont see anybody all day!
how about you?

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Had a great time - was there (in Turunc - 40 mins away from Marmaris) for 3 weeks.

Didn't take the gun - but practiced diving with weights for the first time - 10kg with full wetsuit etc - and staying under for regular intervals.

We had the coastguard in our bay (first time I've ever seen them in all the years I've been going there) but they were checking whether any new boats in the bay had boat licences. They just don't seem bothered about spearos and yes no-one seems bothered or aware of the relevant rules.

Had an update from Greece having found an exceptionally helpful guy working in the department of Mercatile Marine in Piraeus who has sorted out loads of things for me including confirming that I DO need a Greek tax number for my licence, but that is easy to get in Zakynthos and the office is very near to the Port Authority who issues the fishing licences.

Off in 3 1/2 weeks time and really looking forward to catching some dinner for my self-catering apartment.

Cheers.