New Horizons April 2018 | Page 11

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This indirectly bears on development. It is inevitable that commercial fishing is hurt due to degraded fish stocks. The entire Mediterranean includes more than 1,000 alien species. While the number of alien species in the East Mediterranean is more than 775, the number of invasive alien species along Turkish coasts is around 450.

Currently the larger part of the threat is posed by the Indo-origin poisonous species such as blowfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus), stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa), lionfish (Pterois miles) and migrant jellyfish (Rhopilema nomadica), which pose a threat to marine and human health. In the Black Sea, comb jellyfish (Mnemiopsis leidyi) and seasnail (Rapana venosa) continue to exert pressure on fish stocks and native species.