Squid fishermen hurt by rising fuel prices
Squid fishermen across Japan have halted their work for two days to spread public awareness about how rising fuel prices are hurting their business:
Prices of the heavy fuel the trawlers use has skyrocketed to 104 yen per liter, almost three times the 2003 price. But squid prices have not attracted similar increases at auctions and it’s no longer financially viable for many to continue fishing.
“Fuel price surges are a matter of life or death for us,” said Toshiharu Okubo, head of the Katsumoto fishing cooperative in Iki, Nagasaki Prefecture — an area famous for its squid fishing fleets. “Our only option is to go into debt, or go out of business. We’re at the end of our tether.”
The fuel price increase is particularly bad for the squid fishing industry because of the powerful lights their ships use to attract squid consume quite a lot of energy.
