An Israeli fishing fleet of 20 trawlers is a casualty of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty that returned the town of El Arish and adjacent waters to Egyptian sovereignty last Friday. The Navy has informed the fishermen that they can no longer operate within 100 kilometers of EI Arish, including the rich fishing grounds of the Bardawil Lagoon, which Egypt has claimed as territorial waters.
The trawlers are not equipped for deep-water fishing and the fleet will have to be disbanded. The Ministry of Agriculture is expected to subsidize imported fish to replace the Sinai catch.
The settlers of Neot Sinai, just south of El Arish, also got some bad news over the weekend. Premier Menachem Begin told reporters that he was unable to persuade President Anwar Sadat to allow the settlers to continue cultivating their vegetable fields which are in the area returned to Egypt. “President Sadat said this would be difficult and we must accept this announcement, to my regret,” Begin said.
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