TOKYO —

Members of two major saury fishermen’s groups from across Japan suspended work Monday in a one-day appeal for government help to ameliorate their financial plight stemming from soaring fuel costs, the fisheries organizations said. A total of 230 boats, accounting for almost all of the groups’ fleets, were grounded in Hokkaido, where the prime fishing season for saury begins this week. While some 200,000 fishing boats were grounded in July after similar work suspension by squid fishermen in June, saury fishermen had waited until they were allowed to fish from August.

The recent spike in fuel prices has been a particularly heavy blow for saury fishermen because their operations take place at nighttime and require lamps to lure the fish. These lamps account for a high proportion of total fuel expenses, according to the fishermen. They chose to suspend their work on Monday, the day large vessels of more than 100 tons were supposed to begin work, in hopes of magnifying the impact of their lobbying effort, according to the fisheries groups. Smaller vessels have been in operation since earlier this month. On Monday, before going out of action, 26 boats unloaded 370 tons of saury from early morning fishing at the port of Kushiro between around 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. One fisherman, Shunichi Abe from Miyagi Prefecture, said, ‘‘This year fish schools can be found about 50 miles further out from the places where we fished last year,’’ suggesting the greater distance requires more fuel. He said his business is already in the red. ‘‘Never before have I ever thought of staying away from work. We can’t work unless consumers buy more of our fish.’’ Late last month, the government decided to shoulder 90 percent of the fuel cost increases suffered by fishermen on condition that they employ more energy-saving measures such as installing new equipment. Still, another fisherman from Iwate Prefecture said, ‘‘Such a measure is unlikely to be much of help so it is necessary to restrict fishing in order to support prices.’’

Kyodo

3 Comments

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  Altria at 05:12 PM JST - 18th August

  What the Government should say: We are very saury, but we cannot help you.

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  nisegaijin at 12:12 PM JST - 19th August

  Yep, high fuel costs are going to impact nearly all markets. get used to it. its gonna be a rough ride:-|

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  Noripinhead at 02:43 PM JST - 19th August

  Looks like sanma prices will be going up this autumn, and that's a "saury" state of things, since they are among my favorite Japanese fish. Nothing like good broiled sanma with a nama beer or rice. What's next on this list? Ginger? If we run of out of pickled ginger, it'll be "shoga nai."

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