Israeli restrictions on Palestinian fishing boats - Remember Palestine

In the recent attacks against Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli naval troops 6 fishermen were arrested and had their fishing boats confiscated as they went beyond the 3 nautical miles they are allowed to fish. Since the beginning of 2012, Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen and their property have escalated.
According to The Palestinian Center for Human Rights' documentation, Israeli naval troops have launched 50 attacks against fishermen, including 15 shooting attacks, one shooting attack that left an injury, 7 pursuits, 20 incidents of detention and 7 cases of confiscation of fishing boats and equipment.

The problem is that fish, for example, Schools of sardine swim in areas beyond four nautical miles off the coast of Gaza which makes it nearly impossible to catch. Fishermen use trawlers equipped with special lighting fixtures to attract sardines in the dark but were only able to catch few kilograms of small size sardines which is not enough for sell or even feed their families. Although the Oslo Accords specified a limit of 20 nautical miles, it was later reduced to 6 miles and since 2009 the limit decreased to 3 nautical miles. As a result of these restrictions, fishermen have lost 85% of their income. According to Gaza's Department of Fisheries, almost 3,100 fishermen are registered in the coastal strip, down from approximately 10,000 in the year 2000.


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