AMMAN — The Aqaba Special Economic Zone
Authority (
ASEZA) on Saturday decided to amend an extension that would have
banned fishing in Aqaba until the end of July.
اضافة اعلان
A source at
ASEZA told Jordan News
that "starting Sunday, fishermen will be allowed to fish in some special
zones only." An earlier decision, announced late last week, would have
extended an April 4 ban by 60 days.
Nayef Bakhit, ASEZA president, issued a letter
to the Fishermen’s Association earlier on Saturday regarding the decision,
indicating that fishermen will be allowed to return to work.
The letter stipulated that fishermen will be
allowed to fish in deeper waters but must stay away from shallow areas.
The source told Jordan News that the
areas will include zones at a depth of 500 to 1000m. Fishermen will also be
restricted in the species of fish they are allowed to catch.
"We have picked these zones
specifically for the purposes of preserving the rare and special fish resources
in the Gulf of Aqaba and increasing their reproduction," the source said.
"Now that we have reviewed our
decision so that we can help fishermen, we have reduced the payment we wanted
to give for them to try to compensate from JD400 per month to JD200," the
source added.
Mahmoud Ayyad, a fisherman, on Saturday told Jordan News that "we have conducted some meetings with ASEZA since the previous
decision was issued, and the last meeting was this morning and we have agreed
on some mutuality satisfying points."
"In the meantime, we are satisfied that ASEZA allowed us to fish in
some specific areas," Ayyad said, adding that "there are some other
demands that they promised us and we are waiting — hopefully everything will be
good and satisfying for all parties."
Jordan News previously reported on the ban,
citing a source from ASEZA who described the ban as a fragile balancing act to ensure fishermen can make a
living, while Aqaba’s marine life stays protected.
Most
fishermen Jordan News spoke with at the time resented the decision.
Bader
Yasin, president of the Fishermen's Association, had told Jordan News that
"fisheries’ advisers from different countries have previously visited
Aqaba and advised us not to fish during the period between January and April
and in shallow areas only."
"Jordanian authorities have prevented us
from fishing in June. You cannot imagine how bad this decision was: fishermen
wait for June to fish as it is the best month for fishing," Yasin said.
ASEZA
has said the extension to the ban was meant to protect fish stocks and preserve
marine life to ensure the fishing industry remained stable.
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