Dag Suf has already completed removal of its cages from the sea, and by the end of June, Ardag must stop marketing the fish from the last of its own cages and then remove them as well.... [read more]

There is probably not an Eilati alive who isn't aware of the pollution issue in the Gulf of Eilat.  Various factors are blamed, from sewage leaked into the sea by the Municipality, to over-diving and -swimming, to phosphates or other pollution from the port, to sandstorms suffocating the coral reef, to oil spills from Katza [Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline] tankers, and - what seems to be everyone's favourite bugbear - the fish cages owned by the Ardag and Yam Suf fisheries in the sea off the North Beach. 

Those who feel that this last bears the major blame have cause for celebration now, as the last four fish cages out of an original 150 will soon be gone.  Dag Suf has already completed removal of its cages from the sea, and by the end of June, Ardag must stop marketing the fish from the last of its own cages and then remove them as well. 

This is the culmination of a 20 year legal struggle between the two fisheries and environmental concerns, spearheaded by a group called Tzalul.  The environmentalists and some scientists claim that pollution from the fish cages is the prime factor in pollution of the gulf; while the fisheries and other scientists claim that the fish excretions and uneaten feed contribute to a rich and colourful coral reef habitat in the area of the cages.  The former group believes that the fisheries are willing to sacrifice the sea for their own commercial benefit.  The latter group believes that mariculture* is a must for continued food supply as the seas become overfished, and that the ‘ruination' it is causing is over-exaggerated.  [*Mariculture = farming marine organisms in the sea or in seawater].

Environmentalist groups like Tzalul see this as a major victory, both in closing down the cages that they perceive as a major pollutant, and in that the government uncharacteristically voted on behalf of environment over industry. Tzalul now plans to address other factors contributing to pollution of the Gulf such as the Port, Municipality, and ‘uncontrolled diving'.

Proponents of mariculture see the decision as a loss, ‘much ado about nothing' at the expense of both the mariculture industry, which is ever growing in importance as natural resources become more and more depleted; and the neglect of the factors that really are the major sources of reef damage, and don't even offer any benefit whatsoever alongside their pollution. 

 The fisheries themselves, of course, have lost their major source of income.  The general manager of Ardag, Doron Tondovsky , told Eilat Today: "The government appointed a directors' committee in June of 2005 and gave it three months to formulate a proposal.  It is now June 2008 and there has still been no proposal, so Ardag does not yet know what it will be doing in the future.  We will make every effort to remain in the industry and examine the possibility of farming fish in land-based enclosures.  If the committee and the government approve proposals that permit this, Ardag will continue doing mariculture in Eilat, but with a far smaller staff, while the major portion of its activity is moved to Ashdod .  As a result, tens of employees from Eilat and the neighbouring kibbutzes will be forced to leave their jobs at Ardag."

When asked how he sees the decision on a slightly more personal level, Doron responded:  "Fishing [from the sea] is disappearing.  Our attempt to address this problem has been killed off.  The state of Israel is not prepared to deal with the disappearance of fishing worldwide and development of a mariculture industry.  With the limited resources in Israel and the scarcity of fish in the seas, it would have been expected that mariculture will be encouraged and developed, but unfortunately it was decided otherwise."