Gaza crisis: The fisherman's story

25 March 2008

"I've been a fisherman for 36 years, ever since I was 15 years old. My original village, Il Jura, was famous for its fishermen. When my father migrated to Gaza in 1948, he even came here by boat," explains Jamal Mohammed Bassalla, spokesman of the 450-strong Rafah Fishermen's Syndicate in the southern Gaza Strip.

Jamal is one of around 3,500 professional fishermen working along Gaza's 40-kilometre coastline. Between them, they support almost 40,000 people, including mechanics, fishmongers and thousands of local fishing families. But their work is becoming increasingly difficult. The last few years have seen the Gazan fishing industry decimated due to increasingly punitive restrictions imposed by the Israeli government on how far out to sea the fishermen are allowed to sail.

An industry under threat
It was not supposed to be like this. Back in 1995 when there was a breakthrough in peace talks - the Oslo agreements - it was agreed that Palestinian fishermen would be permitted to fish up to 20 nautical miles (37 km) off the Gaza coastline. These days they are unable to fish more than 1.4 nautical miles offshore ."If we sail any further out to sea, the Israelis can open fire and destroy our nets and boats, or force us back to shore," Jamal says.

Israel says the fishing restrictions are part of an overall security strategy to combat Palestinian gun smuggling and suicide bombing. But while smuggling is a challenge on coastal shores worldwide, fishermen in Gaza are bearing the burden of indiscriminate restriction. As Khalil Shahin of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) explains, " The furthest Israel has ever allowed the fishermen to fish is 12 nautical miles offshore. That was back in the mid 1990's, when Gazan fishermen were hauling approximately 3,000 tons of fish a year. But productivity has plummeted since 2002, because of the increasing restrictions. Now the fishermen are hauling less than 500 tons of fish a year."

Running out of options
Jamal and his colleagues are frustrated they can no longer earn a proper living from fishing without risking their lives. Some have resorted to taking chances. Abdullah, another syndicate member, admits, "I take my boat four or five kilometres from the shore - what choice do I have? Sometimes we manage, but other times we are actually hauling our catch when they start firing and force us back."

The restrictions on how far the fishermen can go have also affected the type of fish they catch, making them increasingly reliant on shallow-water fish like sardines. Many have resorted to using smaller nets and catching smaller and younger fish in order to increase their haul. The fishermen claim they have no choice because of the ongoing Israeli blockade, yet they face criticism for over-fishing remaining local stocks. Ironically, the number of fishermen in Gaza has increased over the past few years because some of the thousands of men who used to work in Israel have turned to professional fishing in order to survive.

The sea is Gaza's greatest natural resource, and for the men at the Rafah Syndicate, the solution to their crisis is radically simple: they will only settle for their rights as stated in the Interim Arrangements. "We need open seas," says Jamal. "I am an educated fisherman: I have a geography degree from Beirut University, but I returned to fishing because I love the sea." He has two brothers and six sons. All of them are fishermen. "We have nets and our boats," he says. "We are ready to work."

This story was written by Oxfam Novib partner Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)