Rising diesel prices push UK’s fishing industry to the brink

theguardian.com:

Rising diesel prices could soon stop Britain’s fishing crews from setting sail as it becomes too costly to fish, boat captains warned this weekend.

Trawlers and commercial fishers are now struggling under the weight of price rises that mean in many cases tens of thousands of pounds extra in diesel for a fishing trip leading to take-home pay that is below the minimum wage. It’s a blow to an already struggling industry that was hoping for better times after Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The cost of the type of diesel used by fishing boats has more than doubled in the past eight months and a rise of just 7p more would make it uneconomical for some trawlers to operate, according to Barry Young, managing director of Brixham Trawler Agents, which runs the fish market in Brixham, Devon, England’s most valuable fishing port.

“It’s very fragile at the moment,” he said. “It wouldn’t take a lot to push it over the edge. Our fuel price [for red diesel] is £1.08. If it goes up to £1.15, boats will stop. So another seven pence and they’re done.”

The biggest trawler in Brixham, the Julie of Ladram, returned to harbour after seven days at sea earlier this month, and came close to making a loss. The captain, Sean Beck, took home just £440 for a week’s work – the equivalent of £2.60 an hour for being responsible for the ship and crew 24 hours a day. “It’s a stressful time for my family. And it’s stressful at sea – fishing’s not always great. As a skipper it’s a big responsibility to make the boat pay and make sure everybody gets a wage.”

Crews work on a share of profits – the Julie of Ladram’s owner gets 60%, and as captain, Beck gets 10.5%. There is a sliding scale for the crew, down to a minimum of about 4%.

Vessels unload their