Not just road haulage and agriculture, now even the fishing sector is stopping to protest against expensive diesel. Sirens blaring and fishing boats stopped today, October 22nd. This is a mobilization, born independently in the navies especially in the Northern Adriatic.
The risk, if the stop were to continue and widen, is that it could become difficult to find fish products, a bit like what happened with fruit and vegetables.
Fishing also stops
Those who remained in port chose to do so for two reasons. The first is the expensive diesel fuel: in some cases the cost of fuel exceeds 60% of operating costs. The second is represented by European policies that reduce fishing days and multiply the obligations on companies.
According to estimates provided by Confcooperative to Ansa, for a medium-sized trawler the increase in diesel prices entails up to 45 thousand euros of additional expenses per year: on consumption estimated at 180 thousand liters, the annual expense has risen from 144 thousand to 189 thousand euros.
To complicate the picture, in Molise, also the blockades of the hauliers which prevented deliveries of fresh fish to Campania. “We had to stop yesterday because the trucks with fish, molluscs and crustaceans were stuck and were unable to reach their destination”, explains Domenico Guidotti of Confcooperative Agroalimentare e Pesca Molise. Furthermore, in Termoli, there was also a shortage of diesel in the port’s only distributor.
The focus is entirely on the Council of Ministers scheduled today on road transport, to understand which sectors will be concretely helped and how.