The Palestinian fishing zone off Gaza has been increased from six nautical miles to nine, allowing fishermen greater access to their fishing grounds along the southern portion of the Gaza Strip between Israel and Egypt.
The decision came at the weekend and has been welcomed by Gaza’s fishermen who have been forced to operate within a six-mile restricted area for the last several years, in spite of the terms of the Oslo Peace accord under which they should be able to fish as far as 20 miles offshore. Hook and Net has reported from Gaza in its March issue, with a detailed examination of the circumstances under which Gaza’s fishing community works.
Fishing opportunities remain scarce, although the extension to the fishing zone is expected to improve both incomes and availability of fish significantly, while the blockade has made some materials such as GRP resin for repairs almost impossible to obtain.
‘I’m repairing the engine of this boat that broke down a couple of days ago,‘ said mechanic Safwat Alghalayeeny who was working one of the larger fishing boats that has more than thirty years of hard work behind it.
‘Unfortunately, we cannot find standard spare parts such as gaskets, and now we need to wait two or three weeks to get them,’ he said, adding that the supply of spares has become an increasingly problem over the past year and a half. ‘This has been getting more difficult. Usually, we can complete a repair like this it in a day. But now the same repair job might take weeks.’
‘Only a third of the boats now go fishing since Israel has imposed the blockade,’ said fisherman Abu Razeq. ‘We can only catch small fish that we shouldn’t be fishing for, but we are forced to take these to survive. When there is stormy weather during the winter, we can fish larger quantities sardines, which are in demand, as strong winds push the sardine inside the zone that Israel designated for Gaza fishermen.’
Fishermen’s income has been seriously affected since the blockade has been in force, and the family struggles to make ends meet and keep their business going.
‘We only earn an average of 1000 shekels (less than USD300) a month. Before the siege was imposed, we used to earn more than 5000 shekels a month from fishing,’ Abu Razeq explained.
