Rising fuel costs cut down tuna fishing

TOKYO – Tuna fishing boat operators’ organizations in Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan have agreed to suspend operations for several months in the face of soaring fuel costs, sources said Saturday.

The economic conditions made it difficult for tuna fishermen to make ends meet, while the measure also is expected to help declining populations of the fish to recover, according to the sources.

The suspension is expected to result in higher prices for bigeye and yellowfin tuna, which are mainly consumed as raw fish and processed into canned food.

Some tuna fishing boats in China, South Korea and Taiwan already have stopped working.

Japan’s national tuna and bonito fishermen’s group is in the process of preparing about 20 percent of its more than 2,000 fishing vessels to suspend operations for a couple of months beginning as early as July.

The group is urging other fishermen’s organizations in the country to join in the move, the sources said.

About 1,200 fishing boats engage in oceangoing, long-line tuna fishing worldwide. Fishing vessels from the three countries and Taiwan account for nearly 90 percent of those boats, so eventually about 30 percent of the world’s long-line fishing fleet is expected to suspend operation.

Fishing quotas for more expensive tuna, such as bluefin and southern bluefin, already have been reduced under the initiative of international organizations.

Therefore, the planned stoppage will mainly affect bigeye and yellowfin tuna.

Soaring fuel costs are seriously affecting the nation’s fishing industry.

Earlier this month, about 3,000 squid-fishing vessels stopped work to draw public attention to surging fuel costs.

According to the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, the cost of A fuel oil, the main fuel for fishing vessels, averaged about 39,000 yen per kiloliter in 2003. But the price rose to about 69,000 yen in 2007 and 105,000 yen in June, and is up about 30 percent in six months.