Istanbul Fish Season Calendar: Which Fish Is in Season Each Month

Istanbul’s main fish season runs from September to March. Palamut (Atlantic bonito) arrives in September and peaks in October, lüfer (bluefish) is at its best from October to January, and kalkan (turbot), mezgit (whiting) and istavrit (horse mackerel) carry the winter. From mid-April to the end of August the big boats stay in port, so summer menus are shorter.

That is the short answer. Below is a month-by-month calendar built around the fish on the Yıldızlar menu, followed by what the Turkish fishing ban means, how lüfer gets four different names as it grows, and why sea bass and sea bream never go out of season.

Which fish is in season in Istanbul each month?

The table shows when each fish is usually at its best on Istanbul tables, plus the legal dates that change what reaches the market. Dates come from Türkiye’s commercial fishing communiqué for 2024–2028 (Communiqué No. 2024/20, Official Gazette of 11 August 2024). The sea does not read calendars, though: a warm autumn can delay the migrating fish by weeks.

Month	Fish at their best	What changes this month
January	Lüfer (large), kalkan, mezgit, istavrit, lipsoz (scorpionfish), kırlangıç (tub gurnard)	Sole (dil) closed from 1 January to 15 February
February	Kalkan, mezgit, istavrit, lipsoz, kırlangıç	Sole reopens on 16 February
March	Kalkan, mezgit, dil, levrek (sea bass)	Lüfer, palamut and uskumru are past their fattest
April	Mezgit, dil, barbunya (red mullet), levrek	Bonito closed from 1 April; trawl and purse-seine ban from 15 April; turbot closed from 15 April
May	Barbunya, dil, levrek, çipura (sea bream)	Big boats stay in port; small coastal boats keep fishing
June	Barbunya, mercan (common pandora), sinarit (dentex), levrek, çipura	Turbot reopens on 16 June; grouper (lagos) closed from 1 June
July	Mercan, sinarit, istavrit, levrek, çipura	The quietest month for local species
August	Mercan, sinarit, barbunya, levrek, çipura	Bonito by hand line (çapari) allowed from 15 August
September	Palamut, çinekop (young lüfer), istavrit, barbunya, lagos	Trawl and purse-seine season reopens on 1 September; grouper reopens
October	Palamut, çinekop, sarıkanat, lüfer, istavrit, uskumru (mackerel), lagos	Lüfer season starts in earnest
November	Lüfer, palamut, istavrit, uskumru, kalkan, dil, mezgit	Hamsi (anchovy) season begins on the Black Sea
December	Lüfer, kalkan, mezgit, istavrit, uskumru, dil, lipsoz	Lüfer at its richest

Two notes. Hamsi, the Black Sea anchovy, is Istanbul’s best-known winter fish from about November to February. At Yıldızlar it is on the menu as hamsi tava (pan-fried anchovies) among the hot starters, and as marinated hamsi and hamsi with olives among the meze. And somon (salmon) is not a local fish at all: in Türkiye it is farmed or imported, so it has no Istanbul season.

When is the best month to eat lüfer (bluefish)?

Lüfer is the fish Istanbul argues about most, and its season is short. In 2024 the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce registered Boğaziçi Lüferi (Bosphorus Bluefish) as a protected geographical indication. The registration document from the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office says the fish is caught mostly between October and January, and that its fat content rises from October to May.

In practice, the smaller sizes show up first, in September and October, and the big, oily lüfer that locals wait for comes in November and December. By March the run is over and the fish is leaner. If you visit Istanbul in late autumn, this is the fish to try, grilled whole over charcoal.

Çinekop, sarıkanat, lüfer, kofana: what do the names mean?

Istanbul fishermen give bluefish a different name at each size. The İstanbul Ansiklopedisi, the city encyclopedia compiled by Reşad Ekrem Koçu, lists the grades by how many fish make a kilo:

1. Defne yaprağı (“bay leaf”): 25 to 40 fish per kilo, the smallest.
2. Çinekop: 16 to 20 per kilo.
3. Sarıkanat (“yellow wing”): 10 to 14 per kilo.
4. Lüfer: 2 to 8 per kilo, the true bluefish.
5. Kofana: a single fish over a kilo.

Size also matters legally. The current communiqué sets the minimum landing size for bluefish at 18 cm, and catching, landing, transporting or selling smaller fish is banned. Other limits that apply to the menu’s fish include palamut 25 cm, levrek 25 cm, istavrit 13 cm and kalkan 45 cm.

What is the fishing ban (av yasağı) in Turkey?

The av yasağı is the closed season that protects fish while they breed and grow. Under the 2024–2028 rules:

• Bottom trawling and purse seining are banned from 15 April to 31 August in the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean, and until 15 September in the Mediterranean. The new season opens on 1 September, a date many Turkish harbours mark with season-opening ceremonies.
• Trawling of any kind is banned all year in the Sea of Marmara and the Istanbul and Çanakkale straits.
• Palamut (bonito) is closed from 1 April to 31 August, except for hand-line (çapari) fishing from 15 August.
• Kalkan (turbot) is closed from 15 April to 15 June.
• Dil (sole) is closed from 1 January to 15 February.
• Lagos (grouper) is closed from 1 June to 31 August.

The ban targets the large industrial methods. Small coastal boats working with nets and lines keep fishing through the summer, which is why red mullet, pandora and horse mackerel still reach Istanbul in July.

Why are sea bass and sea bream available all year?

Levrek (sea bass) and çipura (gilthead sea bream) are Türkiye’s main farmed sea fish, raised in sea cages mostly along the Aegean coast. Farming does not follow the migration calendar, so these two are on fish counters in every month. Aquaculture is now the larger part of Turkish seafood: according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s July 2025 market report, farming supplied about 577,000 of the 933,000 tonnes produced in 2024, with Muğla and İzmir leading production.

Wild sea bass and sea bream also exist, especially in autumn and winter, and big individual fish are prized. If it matters to you, ask the waiter about the fish in front of you.

How do you choose fish at an Istanbul fish restaurant?

At most Istanbul fish restaurants, Yıldızlar included, you choose your fish from a display on ice:

1. Look for bright, clear eyes, red gills and firm, shiny skin.
2. Ask what came in that day and what is in season.
3. Ask the weight and the price before it is cooked. Fish is priced by season and weight.
4. Decide the cooking method with your waiter: grilled, on a clay tile (kiremitte), baked in a salt crust (tuzda), poached with vegetables (buğulama) or pan-fried.

Oily autumn fish like lüfer and palamut are usually best simply grilled. Delicate fish such as kalkan, dil and levrek suit gentler methods. For what to drink and which meze to order alongside, read our rakı and meze guide.

Book a table for the fish season

Yıldızlar Restaurant has served fish by the Golden Horn since 1980, first on the old Galata Bridge and now under the new one, on the lower level at the Eminönü end, facing the Bosphorus. We are open every day from 10:00 to 02:00.

Check the full fish list and cooking styles on our menu, then book your table online or call +90 212 528 92 48.