Fishing ban on the Sea of Galilee

Arutz Sheva reports a two year ban on fishing in the Sea of Galilee and its tributaries.

Minister of Agriculture Shalom Simchon has announced a ban on all fishing in the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) for two years. The ban also extends to the part of the Jordan River that empties into the Sea of Galilee, and to all the other rivers that empty into the famous lake.

The authority to ban fishing is within the Minister of Agriculture’s authority according to the official Fishing Order, and the ban is set to take effect on March 1, 2010, extending until February 28, 2012. Minister Simchon has asked the Finance Ministry to allot NIS 15 million for enforcing the ban and compensating the fishermen who will be hurt by it.

Simchon explained that according to Agriculture Ministry statistics, the quantity of fish in the Sea of Galilee has plummeted in the past decade, and especially in the last two years, by tens of percentage points annually. It has now reached  a critical level, he said, and these statistics mean that the sea may be facing an ecological disaster in which all its fish would die out.

Simchon added that the ban on fishing is necessary, because it is both in the public’s interest and that of the fishermen that the Sea of Galilee be kept from turning into a fishless sea. However, the Ministry of Agriculture said that it realized that the fishermen would be bound to protest the move.

Read the full account here.

A fisherman readies to cast his net into an area near Taghba where warm water springs flow into the Sea of Galilee. For a photo of the net in the air click here. Commercial fishermen use large draw nets.

Fisherman readies to cast his net into the Sea of Galilee. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (Matthew 4:18 ESV)

We wrote about the water level of the lake with photos to illustrate the low level here.

HT: Bible Places Blog.