Diesel cuts into fishing industry profits

By Susan Chambers, Staff Writer

When it comes to fuel prices, the trickle-down theory is at full throttle.

Costs of many household staples have escalated due in part to increased transportation costs thanks to rising per-gallon gas expenses.

The seafood industry is keenly aware of it.

“It’s about 25 percent of the gross,” commercial trawler Rex Leach said from his boat, the Ms. Julie, on Friday. “It used to be 8 or 9 percent, 10 years ago.”

Leach, his crew and his boat were trawling off of California Friday as part of a National Marine Fisheries Service survey. The government pays for the fuel, he said, but he’s not looking forward to fueling up again when he has to pay for it to go fishing.

The price for diesel, in May, the last time he fueled up, was about $4.30 a gallon. It’s gone up from there, Leach said.

Oftentimes, Leach’s brother, John, runs the boat during fishing season. That may change if prices go much higher.

“It’s almost gotten to the point where we’ll have to do things real thrifty or I’ll have to run the boat,” Leach said.

At $5 a gallon, fishermen will have to take a close look at how the diesel affects their bottom lines.

Leach said the prices processors pay for fish will have to go up — yet he understands seafood plants, too, are getting hit with higher trucking costs.

Across the U.S., fishing groups are trying to figure out ways to make their boats more efficient. Some are planning to hold workshops in Seattle in November, in conjunction with Pacific Marine Expo.

But the trickle-down doesn’t end with what fishermen put in the tanks.

The cost of their web, the netting used to maintain their trawl nets, has increased thanks to higher shipping costs.

“That’s reflected in our net profit,” Leach said.

Area gas retailers offer boaters nonblended fuel

Chances are you already know of the potential damage to your boat or airplane engines if you use gasoline blended with ethanol or E-10. Chances are you just don’t know where to buy that kind of gas for your boat or lawn mower.

State law exempts boats, aircraft, ATVs, snowmobiles, yard equipment, antique and racing vehicles from using blended fuel. But you won’t find the old stuff at a regular gas station.

The additive cuts carbon emissions to move Oregon forward in the effort to cut the state’s impact on climate change. It has other benefits, too. It’s produced in this country, doesn’t contaminate groundwater and cuts other harmful exhaust emissions.

 “Ever since the switch started, our office has been receiving calls from ports and from boaters saying they can’t find anyone who sells the nonblended fuel,” said Ashley Massey, public affairs specialist for the Marine Board.

In response, the Marine Board compiled a listing of retailers and distributors who sell nonblended fuel. A complete list is online at the Marine Board’s Web site http://www.boatoregon.com.