In 1993, the Israeli fishing fleet consisted of about 518 vessels, the majority being small coastal and lake craft. The Mediterranean trawl fleet consists of 25 well equipped vessels in the 14-25 m l.o.a. range. Although most trawlers are built of steel, there are some wooden and GRP vessels. All trawlers are fitted with hydraulic trawl winches and refrigerated fish holds. The standard purse seine is made of fine nylon webbing and is 250-300 m long and 50 m deep.
Artisanal fishermen use small craft powered either by inboard or outboard engines.
Small-scale fisheries production in 1993 amounted to about 954 mt of prime quality fish. Distant-water fishing in the Southeast Atlantic ceased operations in 1991. Fishing in Lake Kinneret is carried out either by purse seining or by entangling gear. In addition, some 60-70 small outboard powered craft annually land between 500 and 800 mt of fish. Almost all fish culture is carried out by kibbutz collective farms.