Easing the pain of the fishermen

Literally at the mercy of the wind and waves, professional fishermen must learn to take the rough with the smooth and to work long and hard when conditions are favourable.

If, however, it is possible to be philosophical about adverse weather because it is beyond human control, it is less easy to view soaring fuel costs and poor market prices with equanimity.

With this in mind, it is easy to appreciate why the Island’s fishermen, in common with many of their counterparts throughout maritime Europe, have lobbied government for help. As a result of the price of oil and poor returns in the marketplace, it is increasingly hard for them to go to sea and return with a profit.

Economic Development Minister Philip Ozouf has listened sympathetically to the Jersey fleet’s concerns and he has outlined a five-point rescue package that might eventually make a difference to our fishermen’s plight. That said, the help he envisages is principally concerned with marketing aid aimed at customers inside and outside the Island, though it promises to cut the fleet’s operating costs through co-operation with Jersey Harbours.

What Senator Ozouf has not felt able to offer is exactly what the fishermen want most – a discount on fuel. He has had the tact not to point out to them that they are already spared a major part of the diesel or petrol duty paid by road users, but that concession will not have been at the core of his reason for lack of action on the fuel front. He undoubtedly realises that the subsidy route is economically very suspect, leads to precedents being set and does not solve any problems in the long term.

But there could be a way of easing fishing industry pain without cost to the public purse. Not so very long ago Treasury Minister Terry Le Sueur’s proposal that the low-duty concession enjoyed by non-professional boat owners was withdrawn in the face of concerted protest. Boating enthusiasts might campaign less vehemently if that measure were now introduced on the understanding that the money raised would go to assist people who go to sea out of economic necessity rather than for the mere pleasure of doing so.