Fishing banned on the Sea of Galilee

[Still Waters]

Fishing in the Sea of Galilee has been banned, Israel's Ministry of Agriculture has announced, amid claims stocks have fallen to a dangerous low.

It is the site where Jesus told his disciples: "I will make you fishers of men." As the Bible tells us, four of the Apostles - James, Andrew, John and Peter - worked as fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Were they to ply their trade now, however, the Apostles would find themselves in court. Officials at the Ministry announced the fishing ban, claiming that stocks have fallen to a dangerously low level.

The decree ends a tradition which has continued virtually unchanged since Biblical times, and will dismay both local fishermen and Christian pilgrims who flock to the site each year.

The two-year ban comes into effect at the end of this month.

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