Fishermen also hit by gas hike

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Drivers aren’t the only folks being hit by high fuel prices. New England fishermen also are paying steeper prices to keep their boats chugging off the coast.

Fisherman Jamie Hayward said worrying about the price of groundfish was bad enough. Now he’s fretting over the price of fuel, as well.

“With everything else we have going against us, if they raise the price of fuel, it’s just going to make things more difficult,” said Hayward, of Kittery. “The price of fish is bad enough.”

Gas prices nationally are averaging $1.62 per gallon, which is 23.5 cents more per gallon than a year ago. Since June 30, prices have risen on average by 14 cents across the country.

Oil refinery shutdowns caused by the massive electricity blackout throughout much of the United States and Canada on Aug. 14 and a broken pipeline in Arizona are two causes of the price increases.

Motorists feel the effect of the price increase on travel and commuting, but the impact of fuel prices on local fishermen and recreational boaters hasn’t been as readily apparent to the public.

Hayward estimated he burns 80 gallons of diesel a day on his 45-foot boat, The Heidi & Elizabeth. He fishes six days a week for cod, pollock and monkfish, he said.

But fishermen want the public to know fish prices paid by consumers are set by fish processors and dealers, and are not affected by the price fishermen pay to fill up their fuel tanks.

“We don’t set the price of fish. The fish go on an auction floor and bidders decide on it,” said Thomas Fleming, of Barrington, N.H., a ground fisherman who operates the Rhiannon Rae II. “We don’t pass any of our higher prices onto the consumer.”

At the Wentworth By The Sea Marina, gas was going for $2.13 per gallon. The marina is home to 170 recreational and charter boats.

“Before this happened, I was charging $1.93,” said Patricia Kelly, the marina manager. “Every other marina is over $2.”

Gas prices for recreational boaters have soared even higher in York Harbor, home to 300 recreational boats. “Everybody’s crying. It’s $2.30 a gallon – that’s pretty steep,” Harbor Master Gordon Parry said.