Director of Provincial Agriculture and Forestry of Van province, İbrahim Görentaş, said that the fishing of pearl mullet, which swims upstream to spawn, moving into the freshwater rivers that feed into the lake to lay its eggs and then returning to Lake Van once the young fish have hatched, is banned from April 15 to July 15.

Administrative fines will be imposed on those who violate the ban, he added.

Pearl mullet is a species of cyprinid fish, found only in Turkey, where it is the only fish known to inhabit Lake Van. It is endemic to the Lake Van basin.

Pearl mullet is the 'jewel' of Lake Van in Turkey. Found nowhere else in the world, this fish thrives in the lake's salty and carbonated waters, which are inhospitable to other forms of fresh water and marine fish.

In May and June of each year it travels upstream through the lake's tributaries to lay eggs, flying through the air like salmon.