By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Family Island fishermen were yesterday said to be facing a “serious predicament” with margins squeezed by low lobster prices and high fuel costs.

Darin Bethel, the North Andros Chamber of Commerce president, told Tribune Business that - with crawfish season now entering just its third day - the starting $7 per pound price for lobster is creating a “major challenge” for fishermen. This price is barely higher than the island’s $6.60 per gallon diesel price, meaning fishermen will spend between $264 to $330 on fuel per trip alone.

“I did some rounds and spoke with some of the fishermen, and the challenge this year is not the catch. They have been catching relatively normal numbers for this time, for opening of the season, but the major challenge that they’re facing is the price and lack of buyers,” he explained.

“Right now, gas is at about $6.60, near $7, and the buyers are paying $7 a pound. On average, each boat uses about 40 to 50 gallons of fuel. And so that leaves the fishermen in a serious predicament.”

Mr Bethel said fishermen have been left “stunned” with the sudden drop in price, as the 2022 season opened at $12 per pound and the 2021 at $13. He noted that this year’s opening price is the lowest in more than five years.

“The crawfish price at $7 is the lowest it’s been in over five years. Last season, the price opened at $12 per pound. Year before last it opened at $13-$14 per pound, and last year fishermen were disjointed with the $11-12 [per pound] opening prices; they wanted $15,” the North Andros Chamber president said. “And I have a lot of fishermen stunned as to how it is that the buyers can open the season and set the price so low.”

Mr Bethel explained that the low trading price could be due to buyers trying to “manipulate” the market or wholesalers still having a large stock of catch from last year. “The buyers could be trying to manipulate the market. However, sometimes these prices are set by the wholesalers. They base their pricing on how the fish sold in the off season and they usually have heavy inventory going into the off season,” he added.

“So if that inventory hasn’t sold out, the price is low. Just like if they are low on inventory at the opening, price is high.”

Mr Bethel said fishermen have decided to stockpile their catch and will attempt to sell it in bulk later in the season. This decision, however, has left a feeling of “depression” among many as they were relying on the income to begin Back to School preparations.

He added: “The fishermen have decided to hold on to their catch, and come together and sell in bulk, hoping to get a better price later on - maybe in the next week or two. And so right now, they aren’t selling, so they’re not making the money.

“You know, Back to School is coming up. A lot of families depend on the opening of the season to be able to get their children ready for school. And so there’s a little bit of a depression on the ground.”

Mr Bethel said fishermen are also faced with high electricity bills due to having to continuously run their freezers during the season. Although North Andros experienced numerous power outages last month, due to a fire at the Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) plant, fishermen have seen their bills increase by more than 300 percent.

He said: “They are also challenged, right, because they normally have their freezers off in the offseason and they turn on their double freezers or their larger freezers to be able to store more inventory. They are very concerned about these high light bills.

“Our power was out almost 50 percent of last month, but one particular guy told me that his light bill is inflated more than 300 percent. He said he usually have a light bill of about $180 a month on average. His light bill for this month is over $600. It seems like BPL is punishing, rather than rewarding or compensating, the residents for the challenges that they face and the burden and of the power station.”

Mr Bethel said fishermen have reported catching a “normal” amount of lobster and have not encountered any poachers for the season thus far. He added that due to the high fuel costs many fishermen have not ventured into the areas that poachers frequent.

He said: “Overall, most of the guys are saying that they have been getting some normal numbers in the catch and they don’t have too much experience as yet with poaching.

“However, most of the areas that they may experience poaching are the further areas, and because of the situation right now with the gas price, a lot of guys are not going out so far. They are pulling mostly their traps that are closest to home and they usually go down in those areas later in the season. So, you know, they may find that they have been fished already later on down in the season.”