ID :
12547
Tue, 07/15/2008 - 15:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/12547
The shortlink copeid
Fishermen to stay ashore Tuesday to make appeal over high oil costs
TOKYO, July 14 Kyodo - The Japan Fisheries Cooperatives and 16 other major fisheries groups will have all member fishermen suspend operations on Tuesday in an attempt to raise public awareness of the predicament they are facing due to soaring fuel costs, organizers of the joint action said Monday.
About 200,000 fishing boats -- almost all fishery vessels operating in Japan -- will halt operations, including discharge of fish from deep-sea fishing vessels, they said.
At Choshi port in Chiba Prefecture, fishermen will blow the whistles on their boats simultaneously at 11 a.m. as a symbolic action to call for public attention to their plight.
The nationwide suspension of fishery operations could lead to a temporary shortage of supply in fresh fish such as squid and mackerel on the market, observers said.
While most participants will suspend fishery operations only on Tuesday, about 2,100 fishermen in Okayama Prefecture started a two-day suspension of operations on Monday.
In a related move, about 3,600 fishermen and their supporters plan to hold a rally at Tokyo's Hibiya Park to renew their call on the government and the ruling parties to take emergency steps such as government subsidies to help cover increases in fuel costs.
Toshiro Shirasu, vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said at a news conference Monday that the planned suspension of fishing operations is ''an unavoidable action,'' indicating his sympathy for the situation in the fisheries industry.
Although Shirasu remained cautious about extending direct support for covering higher fuel costs, he said the government is studying drastic steps to address the problem as ''an emergency situation.''The top bureaucrat in the fisheries ministry also suggested that fishermen may have to pass an increase in fuel costs onto prices of fishery products to deal with soaring fuel costs.
According to the Japan Fisheries Cooperatives, the price of fuel oil A, which is often used by fishery vessels, has tripled, compared with four and a half years ago, as a result of soaring crude oil prices.
Fuel costs now account for more than 30 percent of overall operating costs, up from around 20 percent in 2006, weighing on the fisheries business, the organization said.
On June 18 to 19, squid fishermen suspended the operation of some 3,000 boats across Japan, causing a temporary jump of 30 percent in prices of ''surume'' squid, or Todarodes pacificus, on the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market known as the Tsukiji market.
About 200,000 fishing boats -- almost all fishery vessels operating in Japan -- will halt operations, including discharge of fish from deep-sea fishing vessels, they said.
At Choshi port in Chiba Prefecture, fishermen will blow the whistles on their boats simultaneously at 11 a.m. as a symbolic action to call for public attention to their plight.
The nationwide suspension of fishery operations could lead to a temporary shortage of supply in fresh fish such as squid and mackerel on the market, observers said.
While most participants will suspend fishery operations only on Tuesday, about 2,100 fishermen in Okayama Prefecture started a two-day suspension of operations on Monday.
In a related move, about 3,600 fishermen and their supporters plan to hold a rally at Tokyo's Hibiya Park to renew their call on the government and the ruling parties to take emergency steps such as government subsidies to help cover increases in fuel costs.
Toshiro Shirasu, vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said at a news conference Monday that the planned suspension of fishing operations is ''an unavoidable action,'' indicating his sympathy for the situation in the fisheries industry.
Although Shirasu remained cautious about extending direct support for covering higher fuel costs, he said the government is studying drastic steps to address the problem as ''an emergency situation.''The top bureaucrat in the fisheries ministry also suggested that fishermen may have to pass an increase in fuel costs onto prices of fishery products to deal with soaring fuel costs.
According to the Japan Fisheries Cooperatives, the price of fuel oil A, which is often used by fishery vessels, has tripled, compared with four and a half years ago, as a result of soaring crude oil prices.
Fuel costs now account for more than 30 percent of overall operating costs, up from around 20 percent in 2006, weighing on the fisheries business, the organization said.
On June 18 to 19, squid fishermen suspended the operation of some 3,000 boats across Japan, causing a temporary jump of 30 percent in prices of ''surume'' squid, or Todarodes pacificus, on the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market known as the Tsukiji market.
