Fuel strike on French fishermen: expenses reached a third of revenue

French fishing companies are channeling up to 30 percent of their revenue to fuel after a sharp rise in diesel prices. This is reported by BFMTV with reference to industry representatives and specialists. Despite tax incentives for marine fuel, the cost of a liter reached 1.21 euros.

Since the beginning of the year, diesel fuel for fishing vessels has doubled in price. The most serious costs are borne by owners of trawlers, who require significantly more fuel than small Sainers.

The scale of the cost was told by Jerome Nicole, head of a fishing company in Lorient in northwestern France. According to him, five trawlers of the enterprise consume an average of 1.4 thousand liters of diesel daily each.

There are limited opportunities for fishermen to offset rising costs. They are not free to raise catch prices because the value of fish is determined by specialized bidding. The current quota system also does not allow to increase production.

Fuel prices are already affecting crew income. According to Nicole, the monthly earnings of seafarers are reduced by 200-600 euros.

The fuel component accounts for a quarter to almost a third of the revenue of trawling enterprises. This assessment was given by Olivier Guillade, a researcher at the French Research Institute on the Exploitation of Marine Resources.