After the official announcement - fishing supervision began in the Yam-Avtach Reserve

Nature and Parks Authority inspectors are expected to begin enforcing fishing regulations in the expanded marine reserve. Delphis Association: This is important news for the common dolphin and its companions who live permanently in the marine reserve area

צילום: ד"ר אביעד שיינין, דלפיס

After being officially declared a marine nature reserve on November 17th, this morning, actual supervision of fishing regulations began in the Yam-Avtach Marine Reserve, which extends between Ashdod and Ashkelon and is intended to protect unique habitats.

Dr. Aviad Sheinin, Director of the Dolphin and Sea Center at Delphis and Head of the Super Predators Division at the Maurice Kahn Marine Research Station at the University of Haifa: "We, at Delphis, have been accompanying the process of declaring the Yam Avtach Reserve since 2018. We established a supportive and active local community as part of the Mediterranean People project at the time, we were engaged in systematically collecting information on dolphin sightings in the area designated for the reserve, and we conducted (and continue to conduct) dolphin surveys. The surveys showed us that the common dolphin population, which is in danger of extinction in the Mediterranean Sea, uses the space designated for the Yam Avtach Reserve. It is not for nothing that the common dolphin was chosen as the logo of the reserve. We are confident that the reserve will benefit the common dolphin population in particular and the marine ecosystem between Ashdod and Ashkelon."

The Yam-Avtach Reserve, which is actually a direct continuation of the terrestrial sand park "Holot Nitzanim Reserve", unites within itself the two declared marine nature reserves - Yam-Avtach North and Yam-Avtach South, and is very important for the population of the common dolphin, a species that is considered endangered in the Mediterranean Sea and is frequently observed in the reserve area, which constitutes its habitat off the coast of Israel.

The common dolphin - a permanent resident of the Yam-Avtach Reserve

Off the coast of Israel, two populations of dolphins regularly exist: the common dolphin (the more common species, which lives from Rosh HaNikra in the north to the Gaza border in the south) and the common dolphin, which is currently classified as an endangered species. In the Mediterranean Sea, its population has declined due to overfishing, unintentional capture, and a higher chance of breeding between closely related individuals and interbreeding with the much more common Stenella coeruleoalba. Since 2007, dozens of dolphins of this species have been regularly observed from the Gaza border to Jaffa (rarely also off Netanya, the northern limit of its distribution), and especially in the Yam Avtah Reserve area.

The Yam-Avtach Nature Reserve is a continuous and direct continuation of the Holot Nitzanim Nature Reserve. Following the announcement of its expansion, it now extends approximately seven kilometers westward into the heart of the sea.

Delphis welcomes the committee's decision, and emphasizes the importance of expanding the reserve for the common dolphin population, a species that is considered endangered.

One of the best ways to protect marine mammal populations off the coast of Israel is to report sightings. Have you seen a marine mammal? Report it to us