Word: fishermen
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...Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, when the Islamist group Hamas took control of the territory. The blockade has crippled Gaza's economy, leaving 85% of the population dependent on humanitarian aid to survive. At sea, fishermen are restricted to three nautical miles from the coast, creating a crowded, overfished shoreline. "The big fish can be found after six miles, but the fishermen cannot go that far, so they catch what's available," says Mohamed al-Hissi, who serves as a liaison for fishermen affairs at the General Syndicate of Marine Fishers in Gaza City...
Catches like endangered sea turtles are only one of the signs of a besieged industry. Al-Hissi says fishermen are also using nets with smaller holes that they smuggle in from Egypt. "This allows them to catch very small fish, and this is against regulations... This does not allow the fish to grow up. If this continues, it will destroy the environment." The Palestinian National Authority was once able to enforce these rules. But now, Al-Hissi says, "We can't control it because there are no alternatives." (See pictures of Gaza digging out after the Israeli invasion...
Israel used to deem fishermen low security risks. Before Israel's "disengagement" in 2005, "during the curfews, the Israelis would call over loudspeakers to tell the fishermen that they were allowed to go to their boats to fish," says al-Hissi, who has worked with Gaza's fishermen for the past 13 years. "With a fisherman's license, you could move, even during the curfew." But he has watched with alarm as the strip's fishing radius has shrank with each political setback; the fishing industry and the coastal environment becoming collateral damage in a larger conflict that the fishermen...
Since last winter's Israeli offensive in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, the fishermen say the daily hazards have only gotten worse. By day, the silhouettes of Israeli navy vessels are visible on the Mediterranean horizon. And by night, the thudding explosion of Israeli shells a few miles out to sea is audible even from the shore. "Every night there is shooting. They don't shoot directly at us. But when you get close to the three mile mark, they will fire into the water as a warning," says 23-year-old fisherman Ahmed Habil...
Human rights organizations say fishermen also face the possibility of arrest while at sea. Several fishermen who spoke to TIME, say their boats were confiscated from within the current three mile limit in recent months; members of their crew forced to swim to nearby Israeli navy vessels, and then taken to Israel for questioning. "The Israelis took my boat five months ago, when it was about three kilometers out to sea," says Subhi Abdallah, a 60-year-old fisherman whose son was arrested when the boat was taken. "They took my son to [the Israeli port city of] Ashdod...