Shorter trips, higher prices

Rising oil prices are taking a toll on Jamaican fishermen, forcing many to make shorter trips out to sea and to increase the price of their catch to cope with the escalating fuel expenses.

“It rough man. It rough pon fisherman,” 56-year-old Alton Foster told The Gleaner. “Sometime mi deh ya and mi haffi a think bad bad right ya now ‘cause mi cya manage di price a gas.”

Foster, who is from the Rae Town Fishing Village offshore the Kingston Harbour, told The Gleaner that he does “deep-sea” fishing, travelling up to 30 miles out to sea at least twice each week.

One of these trips would usually cost him a little over $30,000 in gas, but as global oil prices skyrocket due to the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran, he now has to fork out approximately $45,000 for gas per trip, which can last him for about two days out at sea.

The US-Israel war on Iran, which began in February, has caused a severe global energy shock, with the conflict pushing oil prices to more than $100 per barrel due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted 20 per cent of global oil supplies.

Locally, oil prices have been experiencing sharp increases, with transport fuel prices seeing an average increase of $49.20 per litre. The government cap, however, has allowed only a portion of this to be passed on.

On Wednesday, Petrojam, the state-owned oil refinery, announced small decreases in the price of oil, which saw automotive diesel oil – the type used in fishing vessels – moving down by $0.25 per litre to sell for $189.00. Ultra-low-sulphur diesel will sell for $195.85 per litre following a decrease of $0.25.

But this decrease may offer little relief for Foster as he is often not able to recoup the money spent on his fishing trips.

“And sometime yuh go out deh, yuh don’t mek back di money weh yuh spend,” the fisherman of more than two decades lamented.

DECLINING FISH STOCK

He blamed this on the declining fish stock in Jamaican waters, which have reduced his catch, a situation driven by pollution, overfishing, and climate change.

Taking a break from his game of dominoes on the seashore, 35-year-old fisherman Desroy Finley told a similar story of the increasing gas prices depleting his earnings.

He told The Gleaner that the engine for his fishing vessel also required oil, the cost of which has increased in tandem with gas prices.

“Before, mi woulda go a gas station go spend all wah $30,000 [on] gas, and wi used to get the oil a little cheaper, like $1,050. Now, you affi a pay like $1,500 and $1,700 per bottle fi oil. Wi haffi use two bottle or bottle and a half in the tank,” he said.

He said gas alone could now cost him up to $50,000, which is taking away from his earnings to support his family.

“Wid a man like me weh have so much pickney a run up and down pon di beach, mi woulda want di whole a dem deh money deh weh mi a spend buy extra gas fi tek care a mi youth dem and send dem go school and dem sumn deh,” he said.

Meanwhile, Greenwich Town Fishing Village fisherman Christopher Mahoney said he has been offsetting the increased cost of gas by passing it on to his customers.

“Every time the gas go up, y’know, a di fish wi haffi put a likkle price pon, suh a nuh just only wi it a affect. It a affect the costumer too because if wi have fish fi $700 a pound and di gas gone up, mi haffi put $200 more pon it,” he said.

Stating that the war was affecting everybody, he told The Gleaner that although people were complaining about the price increase, they were still buying the fish.

The 51-year-old fisherman said he fishes around the Kingston Harbour, five days each week, and each day he spends at least $8,000 on gas, up from about $7,000.

A fisherman of more than 40 years, Kevin Absolom, who also fishes around the Kingston Harbour, says he has resorted to making shorter trips.

“Wi not catching the fish nuff weh wi can maintain di gas. Wi haffi just try do weh wi can do – buy a likkle amount. Suppose wi fi go out now, wi used to buy $15,000. Wi only can buy $5,000 or probably $7,000 [worth now] ‘cause it just too dear, so yuh just try buy weh yuh can buy and use and go nearer. Don’t try go out too far, else you a go in a problem,” he said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com