ISTANBUL // It is one of the picture postcard images that define the city of Istanbul.
Each day hundreds of Turks assemble along the Galata Bridge to hang their fishing rods over the balustrade and cast their lines into the waters of the Golden Horn below.
Some have been coming for decades, and no one has ever bothered to ask them for a licence.
But now the government in Ankara is making plans to do exactly that. A draft law calls for fines of 200 lira, about Dh360, for amateur anglers caught fishing without a permit.
“All they want is our money,” said Selim, who works in a supermarket and has been fishing off the bridge two or three times a week for the past 10 years.
He believes the government will use the income from the fines on non-licensed fishing simply to fill state coffers. His friend Ahmet, standing next to him on the bridge, agrees.
“I would not be surprised if you had to pay for the air you breathe next,” he said.
The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was a “dictator”, Ahmet said.
For many, fishing is not only a way of life, even in winter when icy winds lash the Golden Horn, but a way of catching fish for the dinner table.
But with fish stocks in Turkish waters dwindling, the government claims the law is designed to protect fish species.
The new law also calls for all fishermen aged between 18 and 60 to undergo a mandatory training course to educate them about fishing.
In theory, Turks already need a government licence for non-commercial fishing. But only a few anglers bother to obtain the permit from local authorities, said Serkan Inanc, the president of a fishermen’s organisation called the Association of Nature-Loving Amateur Anglers.
Mr Inanc said the obligatory licence was largely ignored because of a lack of government control. “I have been fishing for 25 years and I have never been asked to show my licence,” he said.
According to the draft law of the agricultural ministry in Ankara, which is also responsible for fishing, angling without a licence will no longer be tolerated. The draft, posted on the ministry’s website, calls for a fine of 200 lira for hobby fishermen caught without a permit. That is about 25 per cent of Turkey’s monthly minimum wage, the standard income for millions of Turks.
The ministry has not said how the law will be enforced or when the draft will be submitted to parliament. But Mr Inanc, the president of the fishermen’s association, said he expected the law to take effect within the next few months.
While most of the fishermen on the Galata Bridge are opposed to the new law, some say it is a good idea.
Erol Deniz, 60, a retired clerk, said the law would encourage fishermen to learn more about fish. “People should know something about what they are doing,” he said. “After all, we have to protect the sea” from overfishing.
For a body of water in the middle of a city of 15 million people, the Golden Horn, a bay of the Bosphorus strait on Istanbul’s European side, is surprisingly clean thanks to clean-up efforts by the municipality.
“Today the water is much cleaner than it was 10 years ago,” Mr Deniz said. He said the Golden Horn had at least seven different kinds of fish.
As he spoke, he pulled an istavrit, a kind of mackerel, out of the water and put the fish, still flapping around, into a bucket filled with salt water.
“I rarely go home with an empty bucket,” he said.
Mr Deniz said he was able to make some money from time to time by selling some of his fish to passers by, a practice that is officially illegal but commonplace on the bridge.
For Mr Deniz, who does not have a fishing licence, a life without fishing on the Galata Bridge a few times a week would be unthinkable.
“Even as a boy, I was watching people here on the bridge and said to myself that one day I would like to be one of them,” he said.
tseibert@thenational.ae
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
More on animal trafficking
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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Usain Bolt's World Championships record
2007 Osaka
200m Silver
4x100m relay Silver
2009 Berlin
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2011 Daegu
100m Disqualified in final for false start
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2013 Moscow
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
2015 Beijing
100m Gold
200m Gold
4x100m relay Gold
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