On January 13, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov went to the Balkan velayat to inspect oil and gas fields.

According to the state information agency TDH , after that the head of state went to the fishing zone of the Caspian Sea, where he met with fishermen living in the Gogerendag village of the Esenguly etrap. The fishermen told the President about their happy life, showed varieties of local commercial fish, including dried ones.

The fisherman N. Meretgylydzhov, who met Berdimuhamedov, said that he learned fishing, which he has been doing for 10 years, from his father. Then they were joined by other fishermen, “ who were incredibly happy about the visit of the head of state ,” TDH notes.

When asked by the president about the frequency of going to sea and the profits they make, the fishermen, who are satisfied with their profession, said that they go to sea 10–12 times a month, and the catch is 40–50 kg of fish, which is enough for families and for sale.

Then the fishermen treated the head of state to a dish of fish and, according to the state information agency, sang him the national chant "ghazala", dedicated to Berdimuhamedov himself.

In April 2021, Turkmen news reported that due to restrictions on fishing introduced a year ago under the pretext of the danger of COVID-19, residents of settlements located near the coast of the Caspian Sea are left without a source of income. Official documents prohibiting fishing were not published last year. Instead, the fishermen suddenly began to approach the police and report that their occupation is now considered epidemically dangerous. In Dashoguz and Lebap, this was explained by the fact that used medical masks are thrown into water bodies from neighboring Uzbekistan.

Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan