The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has asked Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel to intervene urgently against a decision by the ministry's fishing official to shut down coastal and sport fishing for only 30 days in June, claiming the decision threatens serious damage to the fish breeding season in 2018.
Seeking to return the shutdown to 45 days, the society disagreed with the selection of the month of June, saying fisherman already don't fish during the month because of high temperatures. Its letter said, "The price of this behavior is being paid by the Mediterranean fish, the general public and mainly the fishermen themselves, who depend on the fish breeding for their livelihood in the long term.".