[Ferretlover]

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

[dorlomin]

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.

[MrBill]

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.

[misterno]

I was wondering if fishing industry is using diesel intensively so howcome the fish prices are not going up?

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'I') was wondering if fishing industry is using diesel intensively so howcome the fish prices are not going up?

[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ferretlover', '1')2 May 2008--SCOTLAND - The sky-high price of fuel could result in Scottish fishermen losing...

[MrBill]

Fishy tales

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ore 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.

[SoylentGreen]

Boats are very inefficient. A twin outboard powered 26-28 ft. center console offshore fishing boat gets 2 mpg cruise at best.

[misterno]

Mr Bill

Are you in southern cyprus or northern? Just curious what type of business are you running as an American in Cyprus?

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'M')r Bill

Are you in southern cyprus or northern? Just curious what type of business are you running as an American in Cyprus?