Fuel price hike hits Vietnam offshore fishing

May 12, 2011, 4:29 GMT

Hanoi - High fuel prices are forcing thousands of Vietnamese fishing boats to stay ashore, and could lead to a rise in the price of fish exports, government officials said Thursday.

'High petrol and oil prices are not only affecting fisherman's livelihoods but also reducing our seafood production,' Nguyen Viet Thang, chairman of the Vietnam Fisheries Association, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Authorities said they were assessing the impact on the catch.

Chu Tien Vinh, deputy director of the government's Fisheries Department, said 30 per cent of the country's 130,000 fishing boats had been kept ashore by the high fuel prices.

Another 40 per cent were only operating sporadically, leaving 30 per cent fishing as normal, he said.

Most of the boats out of action were vessels that normally fish offshore for export.

Without government subsidies, falling seafood output would cause export prices to rise, Thang said.

'I cannot say how much prices will increase but it is inevitable,' he said.

Vietnam has raised fuel prices twice this year, a total increase of between 36 and 43 per cent for different types, citing higher global oil prices.

Fuel costs make up 60 per cent of the expenses of Vietnam's offshore fishing fleet, while ice used to preserve the catch accounts for 15 per cent.

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