Aquacultural exports from Turkey surpassed $1 billion (TL 8.21 billion) for the first time in 2020, according to data by the country's statistical authority.

The country's exports of fish, crustaceans, mollusks and other aquatic invertebrates, continued to increase last year, Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

The country's aquaculture exports were $744.56 million in 2016, $797.25 million in 2017, $879.59 million in 2018, $962.23 million in 2019 and over $1 billion in 2020.

On the importation side, the country's aquaculture imports were $143.1 million last year.

The main destination of Turkish aquaculture exports were the Netherlands with $133.08 million, followed by Russia with $131.9 million, Italy with $121.45 million and Greece with $81.24 million.

Ramazan Özkaya, the head of the Central Union of Fisheries Cooperatives, said Turkey's main export products are trout, bream and seabass.

Turkey is Europe's largest fish provider and even exports tuna to Japan, he noted.

He said the sector is continuing to work toward the 2023 aquaculture export target of $2 billion.