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More than 25,000 dead fish found over the weekend near the marina of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) were said to have been poisoned by a local fisherman who was disputing an area that he claimed was his private fishing “turf”. The fish, most of them Amnon or St. Peter’s fish, were poisoned by an insecticide concoction used to kill pests like cockroaches. Fears that contaminated fish might se sold to the general public has caused health authorities to issue warnings not to purchase fresh water fish from the Kinneret unless sold in licensed shops whose fish have been checked for signs of the insecticide poison.

The fisherman (AKA Idiot), who is now in police custody, admitted that he poisoned the fish over a dispute with fellow fishermen over a section of the lake that he claimed was his exclusive fishing area. Health Ministry scientists are testing other sections of the lake to determine if fish in these areas have been affected as well.

Besides being one of Israel’s major sources of fresh water, the Kinneret throughout history has been used for commercial fishing, possibly for thousands of years. The Amnon fish, a derivative of an African river and lake species known a talipalah, is a tasty species that is also successfully raised in aquaculture fish ponds. This is the same fish that Peter and other disciples of Jesus caught in their nets before they were persuaded to follow Jesus and become “fishers of men”. More recently, other species have been added to the lake, including German carp and grey mullet, a saltwater fish that has also adapted well to fresh water. It was fish like the Amnon (called Musht in Arabic) and mullet that were affected most by the poison that tended to float on the surface of the lake, like an oil slick.

Due to the lake supplying at least 30% of Israel’s drinking water, acts such as this are taken very seriously by Israeli police and governmental authorities. The commercial fishing business has fallen off considerably in recent years and perhaps this is why the few remaining commercial fishermen there take their fishing areas so seriously. But despite this, it was not an excuse to cause this kind of damage, and it will take some time for the lake to purify itself and replenish the fish that were poisoned.

In the meantime, Kinneret visitors wanting a traditional Kinneret lunch or dinner of “Musht, salad and chips” had better inquire to the restaurant owners there just where they bought their fish from.