Anglers reeling as authorities try to keep illegal fishing at bay

New partnership with border police, against illegal hunting and fishing, catches over 3,000 people in 2018, Nature and Parks Authority announces

An illustrative photo of people fishing legally at Achziv Beach in northern Israel, on July 3, 2018. (David Cohen/Flash90)
An illustrative photo of people fishing legally at Achziv Beach in northern Israel, on July 3, 2018. (David Cohen/Flash90)

The Nature and Parks Authority netted 250 people in the past year for illegal fishing in national maritime parks, part of a countrywide crackdown on illegal activities within national parks on land and sea, the head of the service said Tuesday.

For the first time, parks inspectors enforced a fishing ban in maritime conservation areas, where inspectors have previously looked the other way. Angry sport fishermen claim that the Parks Authority is destroying the country’s fishing heritage.

The crackdown is part of a cooperative effort with Border Police that began this year in order to stop illegal hunting and fishing.

Some 10 to 20 people a month were caught fishing illegally in protected areas,  director Shaul Goldstein announced at an end-of-the-year press conference for the Parks Authority, held at the Migdal Tzedek Fortress next to Rosh Haayin on Tuesday. There are 20 border police who work full-time for the National Parks Authority combating illegal activity in national parks.

An illustrative photo of people fishing legally at Achziv Beach in northern Israel, on July 3, 2018. (David Cohen/Flash90)

Previously, Parks Authority inspectors carried out labor-intensive, on-the-ground patrols in remote locations in an effort to catch illegal hunters, where they ran the risk of getting shot by the hunters. The border police have better surveillance equipment, especially drones, that can gather intelligence about possible illegal activity, allowing inspectors to act more efficiently, Goldstein said.

For the first time, the Nature and Parks Authority is also strongly enforcing the fishing bans in the designated conservation areas along the Mediterranean coast, after years of a laissez-faire attitude that saw fisherman operate freely.

Goldstein said the collapsing fish populations forced them to take action. For the last half of 2017, they issued warnings to people fishing illegally, including in protected areas or without the proper permits. The Nature and Parks Authority also held 20 public meetings with fishermen to explain the laws and regulations, and encouraged fishermen to apply for permits with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The ministry issued double the fishing permits for sport fishers in 2018 — more than 150 permits, compared to 70 in 2017, said Goldstein.

Nature and Parks Authority head Shaul Goldstein (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

Starting this year, inspectors began issuing fines to fishermen breaking the law. “Our issue is protecting spawning grounds,” he said. “Once the fish are mature and go into open waters, sport fishing is fine. We are trying to take care of the baby fish.”

Sport fishing fans were incensed about the fines.

“In Israel, there has been a tradition for thousands of years of coastal fishing, which is an essential part of the Mediterranean identity, just as it is an integral part of the identity and traditions of all of the fishermen and people who live along the coast,” said Sami Eli, the spokesperson of the Israel Sport Fishing Association. Eli said that ports, public beaches, and pollution from the Haifa Bay already limit the area available to fishermen to tiny slivers of the coast.

Enforcement of the fishing ban in the maritime nature reserves was the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said, adding that the fines would lead to the collapse of sport fishing traditions and businesses in Haifa and northern Israel.

Last year, the Sport Fishing Association petitioned the High Court to allow fishing along the coast and especially in the Rosh Carmel maritime reserve. Rosh Carmel National Maritime Park is a 50-square-kilometer (19-square-mile) reserve outside of Haifa where the limestone mountain range of the Carmel runs into the sea, providing unique maritime habitats for a diverse array of sea life. The Sport Fishing Association claims that this is the most fertile and productive spot for fishing. The High Court ruled in May that the Nature and Parks Authority could continue to enforce fines against illegal fishermen in the area.

“This is just a group of 150 people who are making a lot of noise; the vast majority of people in Israel support creating maritime conservation areas,” said Goldstein, who dismissed the notion that the fishing ban would destroy an essential part of Israel’s historical identity.

A school of fish. (iStock)

“There also used to be a tradition of hunting in Israel,” he said. “Even the people who founded the Nature and Parks Authority were big hunters, until they understood that Israel is a small country and we can’t hunt here.

“The fishermen also need to understand that they are the ones who will benefit from this,” Goldstein added. “If [the fish populations in] protected maritime areas improves, then the areas next to these areas will also improve.”

There are 12 inspectors patrolling the Mediterranean Sea, and three inspectors in the Red Sea and Sea of Galilee.

The enforcement is part of the Nature and Parks Authority’s countrywide decision to crack down on illegal hunting and fishing. This year, in addition to the 250 fines given for illegal fishing, there were 3,246 fines given for illegal hunting of partridges, turtles, deer, hyenas, foxes, and wolves. The Parks Authority caught 32 people involved in the sale of wild animals or their carcasses.

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