St Mawes fishermen are having a hard time at the moment due to the ever increasing fuel prices brought on by soaring global oil prices. More and more fishermen throughout the Southwest and the UK are laying up their boats as it has become completly uneconomical to go fishing, with the running and fuel costs becoming greater that the income the catch would generate.
The price of fuel has doubled over the last year, 40% in 2008 alone and analysts suggest oil prices will continue to rise for the near future. Having hit $139 per barrel it is possible $200 per barrel could be seen before the end of 2009.
Of course this is a problem all over europe for fishermen, as the following EU numbers suggest:
- Fuel price increase of 320% over the last five years
- Fish prices at the same level as they were 20 years ago
- 40% increase in fuel since January '08
- A reduction in certain fishery products by 25%
Clearly this cant continue as its almost completely unviable to fish and like most trade, it will be the smaller operators that suffer first - such as the St Mawes fishermen.
