Straits Times 30 may 08;
Fishing boats may halt operations because of costs, leading to supply shortage
TOKYO - THE plate of tuna sashimi or tuna sandwich is going to cost more in the coming months.
An industry group said yesterday that as many as one in three ocean-going long-line tuna fishing boats across the world may halt operations because of high fuel costs.
About 140 boats from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Fiji and elsewhere are already standing idle at port, said Mr Yuichiro Harada, managing director at the Tokyo-based Organisation for the Promotion of Responsible Tuna Fisheries.
'Another 260 boats are considering suspending operations, bringing the total number to about 400' out of 1,174 boats operated by members of the organisation, Mr Harada said.
'The more you operate, the more money you lose' due to high fuel costs, he said, adding that a typical Japanese boat would lose 100,000 yen (S$1,300) in one day of long-line open-ocean fishing.
How long the boats might stay in port could vary from region to region and depend on whether fuel prices cool, he said.
The organisation groups long-line open-ocean tuna fishing boats from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, China, Equador, Seychelles, Fiji and Vanuatu. Most operators of such ships worldwide are members.
The halt is bound to cause a supply shortage of raw tuna meat used for Japan's beloved 'sashimi' slices, the organisation warned.
Officials say a steady drop in the number of bigeye and yellowfin tuna is also another factor behind the suspension of fishing expeditions.
Pollution, climate change and overfishing, say experts and scientists, are to blame for the depletion of fish stocks in the oceans.
The five main tuna species are skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye, albacore and bluefin.
Thailand, the world's biggest exporter of canned tuna, will see a fall in exports this year, reported the Bangkok Post yesterday.
'Prices of raw materials, for instance skipjack tuna, now stand relatively high at US$1,600 per tonne compared with about US$800 to US$1,000 a year earlier,' said Mrs Somying Piumsombun, the director-general of the Thai Fisheries Department, on Wednesday.
She was speaking on Wednesday at the 10th Infofish World Tuna Trade Conference and Exhibition where industry players warned that 'cheap tuna would be something of the past'.
Mr Harada regretted the looming supply shortage of tuna, but blamed speculative investment for pushing up oil prices.
'It is a very big problem for the food industry that it is affected by speculation,' he said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
