Some Arakan-based commercial fishing operations suspended due to rising fuel prices

By DMG 11 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
11 March 2022, Sittwe

High fuel prices are forcing fishing trawlers to suspend their operations, according to business owners in Arakan State.

A barrel of diesel has reached over K490,000 in price, while the price of octane has hit more than K2,100 per litre.

“A fishing trawler uses at least a barrel of diesel per day. It is no longer profitable to operate fishing trawlers because the daily catch cannot cover fuel costs after fuel prices have increased significantly,” said U Kyaw Aye from Lay Taung town, who engages in commercial fishing.

“The trawler uses a barrel a day, and the daily cost is more than K1 million including labour costs. The catch has declined compared with last year. Fish fetch better prices compared with the previous year. But we are hardly making profits because we need to spend more on fuel,” he told DMG.

Some fishing business owners say their catches have been reduced by as much as half compared with last year.

“It costs me around K18 million per month to pay for labour, fuel and other costs,” said one fishing business owner, Ko Nwe Min Kyaw. “Previously, the overall cost was around K15 million per month. The situation is forcing me to reduce the wages of workers. It is even hard to cover production costs now.”

Fishing business owners said they might be forced to halt operations permanently if fuel prices continue to rise.