Some figures

Under the Oslo Accords signed in 1994, Gaza's fishermen were permitted to go 20 nautical miles out to sea. Following the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifadah, in 2000, the capture of an Israeli soldier and the takeover of the territory by the Islamic resistance organisation Hamas, Israel limited this to six nautical miles on grounds of security.
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The UN estimates that a distance of 12-15 nautical miles off Gaza is the minimum required to access the larger shoals of fish for maximum economic benefit.

Due to over-fishing in shallow waters, the stocks of smaller fish closer to shore have almost been depleted without having the chance to reproduce. The more lucrative shoals of tuna are also found further out.

The cost of one fishing trip can vary between 125 and 625 dollars, depending on the size of the vessel, nets and crew, and many fishermen cannot cover their costs from the resulting catch. They have no option but to remain on shore.

Collectively, Palestinian fishermen saw their monthly catch drop from 823 tonnes in June 2000 to as low as 50 tonnes in late 2006, according to the UN.

At the end of the nineties, Gaza's fishing industry was worth about 10 million dollars annually, and represented four percent of the Palestinian gross domestic product. Some of the fish was exported, while the rest sustained the local market.

Between 2001 and 2006 this income was almost halved. Today, impoverished and unemployed Gazans, suffering malnutrition and without access to adequate medical supplies, are forced to import fish from Israel.

extracted from an article by Mel Frykberg for IPS