The typical autumn-winter season migratory fish in the Bulgarian Black Sea waters did not appear this year.
The increasingly warm climate, military operations and exercises are the reason why there are no horse mackerel, black mackerel and bonito in the nets, reports the Executive Agency "Fisheries and Aquaculture". Against this background, our sea is gaining inhabitants that are exotic for our latitudes.
Instead of bonito and horse mackerel, the Black Sea is becoming home to more and more new inhabitants from the Mediterranean Sea, says Nikolay - a fourth-generation fisherman.
"We catch sea bream and send them back. A colleague caught a devil fish. Blue crabs have also started to appear, sardines... Big fish, apart from the blue whiting, we have had cases of 150 kg. and above, however, we return them back", said Capt. Nikolay Vangelov – owner of fishing boats in Nessebar.
There is no shortage of customers for sprats either.
"The biggest fish I have ever caught we released four days ago into the sea. White sturgeon 134 cm. 120 – 130 kg. The horse mackerel is good today. Here it is, but this year the sea is not giving", shared Hristo Petlyakov, fisherman.
The entire blue system is changing. New types of plankton, jellyfish, crabs, shrimps, fish are being observed – the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture reports:
"The so-called Korean rockfish, which closely resembles our scorpid. There are new types of poplets that are uncharacteristic, the crow fish... In general, there is a trend of the so-called Mediterraneanization of the Black Sea", said Dr. Nikolay Georgiev – Executive Director of IARA – Burgas.
However, the traditional autumn fish are becoming exotic, which is why their price is higher.
"Black sea bream is in short supply this year, which is why it is more expensive. Also horse mackerel. There is more medjit. And it is a delicious fish, sea and at a good price," said Kancho Nikolov, a trader.
"Yes, I see that the choice of Black Sea fish is very small. "And we are at the sea after all," said a client.
The variety of Mediterranean guests is expected to grow, regardless of the jokes of the sea wolves.