Fuel Costs Incite Protests by Fishermen in Europe - NY Times 053108

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/world/europe/31fuel.html?sq=protests%20by%20fishermen&st=nyt&scp=1&pagewanted=print

May 31, 2008
Fuel Costs Incite Protests by Fishermen in Europe
By ALAN COWELL
PARIS — Commercial fishermen across Europe carried out new protests on Friday against soaring fuel bills, blockading ports and refineries in France and handing out fresh fish in Madrid.

The protests against diesel fuel costs have been simmering all week, with truckers in Britain blocking highways and fishing vessels halting port traffic on the English Channel in France.

Outside a government ministry in Madrid, news agencies reported that hundreds of fishermen handed out 20 tons of fish to consumers from trucks loaded with the catch of Europe’s biggest fishing fleet. Spanish union leaders said the strike among fishermen had 100 percent support.

The Spanish government did not respond to the protests, and more trouble was on the way: Truck and taxi drivers were threatening a strike next week.

In Portugal, fishing fleets also stayed in port, and in one harbor, at Peniche, in central Portugal, skippers strung their boats together with mooring lines to prevent other vessels from unloading. Portuguese fishing boat owners, who employ about 21,000 people aboard almost 5,000 boats, were pressing their demands for government help by choking off the supply to markets.

The wave of strikes and protests has alarmed the European Union, which said on Friday that it was following the situation closely. But some officials ruled out fuel price subsidies and said the protests highlighted a deeper problem in the European fishing industry: too many fishing boats chasing dwindling stocks of fish.

Nearly 90 percent of species in Europe are overfished, European Union officials warned on Friday. Because of higher fuel costs, fleets are likely to try to catch more in coming months to make up for fuel-related losses, intensifying the problem.

In Italy, fishing unions claimed widespread support for a strike on Friday, while in France, where the protests have continued for more than two weeks, fishermen blocked the port of Le Havre.

Apart from lower fuel prices, the fishermen are demanding higher government subsidies.