The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked to put off the removal of the fish cages from the Eilat Gulf by two years, despite a cabinet decision two years ago stating that they must go within three years.

PMO Director General Ra'anan Dinur, head of the committee for implementing the cabinet's decision to remove the cages, said the fish farmers needed more time to get organized, and removing the cages sooner would leave them without a living.

Environment Minister Gideon Ezra objected to any further delay in removing the fish cages and demanded that the cabinet decision be implemented on schedule.

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Ezra wrote Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, saying the fish farms have had enough time to get organized. Maintaining the fish farms in the Eilat Gulf continues to cause dreadful pollution in the bay, he said.

The cabinet decided two years ago to remove the fish cages gradually by the summer of 2008. One of the reasons prompting the decision was the pollution resulting from the fish cages, which threatens the bay's coral reef.

The cabinet's decision was approved by the Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court, which heard the state's suits against the two mariculture companies, Ardag and Dag-Suf, for running unlicensed businesses and illegal construction.

Ezra accused the fish farmers of failing to prepare for an alternative to the marine fish cages in Eilat. The mariculture companies denied this. Both sides are now waiting for Mazuz' decision on Dinur's request to postpone the cages' removal by two years.

Ezra said the mariculture companies had not submitted requests to build fish ponds or asked for government assistance to finance their construction. "The ministry will not change its mind and agree to a delay in removing the cages," he said. "That would be unacceptable from any public, environmental or moral point of view," he said.

Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court Judge Jacob Spasser last week approved a plea bargain with Dag Suf in which the company admitted running its fish farms without a license and building illegal cages and structures in the sea and on land. A similar bargain was struck with Erdag last year.

Ardag denied any foot-dragging in taking steps to remove its fish cages from Eilat and said the company was acting according to the court's ruling.