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Ferretlover
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Joined: Jun 13, 2007
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 Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:22 pm Post subject: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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12 May 2008--SCOTLAND - The sky-high price of fuel could result in Scottish fishermen losing key quotas and catching opportunities to foreign fishing fleets, the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation is warning.
With Scottish boats unable to put to sea because of soaring fuel costs, the resultant failure of Scotland to fully catch its share of fish could result in the future reallocation of quotas by the EU to subsidised foreign fleets.
This will be just one of the many concerns that the SFF will highlight to Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead at a meeting in Aberdeen later today (12 May) to discuss the fuel crisis. …
Can't put to sea
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dorlomin
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Joined: Aug 05, 2007
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 4:16 am Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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That is just arse for elbow (as we'd say in Scotland). If your not fishing due to prices of the catch or the cost of the fuel then THAT IS A GOOD THING FOR FISH STOCKS not an oppertunity to hand it over to someone else who can afford to fish.
Although Im not sure who that would be? Certainly fuel costs are high for everyone and only Norway is better positioned for much of the North Sea and Altantic in terms of distance.
I cant really see how its cheaper to chug all the way up from Spain than Wick or Fort William, unless they are getting government help with there fuel costs. |
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MrBill
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:29 am Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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So then the real issue is how European regional aid distorts competition - and depletes fish stocks - rather than high fuel prices that as you point out should make it equally expensive for Scottish and Spanish fishermen to put out from port.
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misterno
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Joined: Mar 07, 2007
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Location: Houston, TX
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:10 am Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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| I was wondering if fishing industry is using diesel intensively so howcome the fish prices are not going up? |
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MrBill
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:09 am Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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| misterno wrote: | | I was wondering if fishing industry is using diesel intensively so howcome the fish prices are not going up? |
Fresh fish here in Cyprus (an island) is about 50-55 euros per kilo on the plate or slightly less for farmed fish. That works out to approximately $15-16 per pound retail or say $7.5-8 per pound wholesale. As the price adjusts daily it should reflect higher fuel prices immediately.
However, fishing fleets are having to go further afield to catch the same amount of fish (or less), and are harvesting immature (smaller) fish thereby ensuring that fish stocks will diminish in the future. Some predict total collapse of wild fish stocks by 2030.
Therefore, much like the price of gasoline or diesel is not as important as the prospect of physical shortages is to the economy, the cost to harvest fish is not as important as the prospect of physical shortages of wild fish. Some one billion people rely directly or indirectly on wild fish stocks for their livelihood and/or as their primary source of nutrition. The world's population is still growing.
Generous EU subsidies to encourage over-fishing despite higher fuel prices - and lower margins - not only sends the wrong message to commercial fishermen, but ultimately ensures that we will see that collapse in wild fish stocks sooner rather than later. But instead of locally or regionally we can expect those shortages globally.
Fish farming of species that feed-off vegetable matter (biomass) as opposed to other fish (forget salmon) will help solve some of that shortfall, but is by no means a guarantee to help regional dislocations; job losses; local famines; etc. For one fresh fish requires immediate refrigeration and/or preparation/preservation before it can be stored or transported over large distances to consumers. Those consumers have to be able to pay for that fish including the value-added of fuel; labor; transport; refrigeration; etc.
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mattduke
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Joined: Oct 28, 2005
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| Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 9:21 pm Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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| Ferretlover wrote: | | 12 May 2008--SCOTLAND - The sky-high price of fuel could result in Scottish fishermen losing... |
I'm surprised anyone is still performing economic calculations in terms of government toilet paper. The price of fuel is stable in terms of gold.
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MrBill
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| Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:39 am Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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Fishy tales
| Quote: | More fuel is being used by fleets all round the world, and falling fish stocks are “the major driver”, says Peter Tyedmers, an economist at Dalhousie University in Canada. Nova Scotian fishing records stretching back to the 1930s show that today's boats burn over four times more fuel to catch a tonne of fish, despite having far more efficient engines. Most of the fisheries that he has studied are burning more fuel than 50 years ago.
Availability matters. Herring fishermen in Canada may use only 30 litres of fuel to catch a tonne of fish, because they can throw their nets nearer to home (a practice so cheap that herring is used as lobster bait). European herring fishermen burn 100 litres a tonne, even when using the same (highly fuel-efficient) technique of throwing a purse seine net round a school of fish. Fishing methods matter, too. It takes lots of fuel to pull a heavy net behind a trawler, or tow long lines with hooks for prey like tuna: figures of 3,000 litres of fuel per tonne of fish are common.
Many European fleets are shaped by business choices made when diesel was cheap. The biggest supertrawlers can be crewed by only 20 men: essentially they have substituted fuel for labour. The Netherlands has some of the world's most efficient trawlers for flatfish, in terms of tonnes caught per vessel in a day—but they drink fuel at a fearsome rate. Yet unlike the French or Spanish fishermen who demand fuel subsidies, Dutch fishermen know such aid is not on the table, says Albert Vermue, director of fisheries for the Dutch government. “Subsidising fuel does not tackle the root of the problem,” he says. Instead, fishermen must find different ways to catch fish.
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Source: Europe's governments must ignore fishermen's demands—for the sake of the fishing industry
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SoylentGreen
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Joined: May 25, 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:26 pm Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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| Boats are very inefficient. A twin outboard powered 26-28 ft. center console offshore fishing boat gets 2 mpg cruise at best. |
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misterno
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:01 pm Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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Mr Bill
Are you in southern cyprus or northern? Just curious what type of business are you running as an American in Cyprus? |
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MrBill
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| Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:37 am Post subject: Re: Soaring Cost of Fuel To Hit Scottish Fish Industry |
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| misterno wrote: | Mr Bill
Are you in southern cyprus or northern? Just curious what type of business are you running as an American in Cyprus? |
In S. Cyprus which is the Greek part. I live in Limassol where the bulk of the shipping and banking are located. Also about 30.000 Russians! I work for a Russian company. But I am originally Canadian. There are tax and legal reasons to be located here. Also, Cyprus is part of the EU, so that is very advantageous for us. It is much cheaper to have operations in Cyprus than say London. It is cheaper to add staff here than say Moscow. And the staff do not have problems with commutes, traffic and those day to day hassles. The only problem with Cyprus is a lack of water. We have water rationing now. Only 3-nights a week. And now they are importing water from Greece by tanker, which is expensive and very inefficient. Other than that it is a pretty good place to be. However, fish is no cheaper here than anywhere else. Wild fish especially. But we do have farmed fish. Almost as good, but not quite. The Mediterranean is basically all fished out.
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