By NEILL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian fishermen were yesterday said to be “dreading” the spike in fuel costs generated by the Middle East conflict with boats returning to shore “filling up their tanks to the brim” in a bid to minimise the impact on expenses and profit margins.
Paul Maillis, the National Fisheries Association’s (NFA) secretary, told Tribune Business that “everybody suffers when the cost of energy goes up” as he voiced particular concern for Family Island residents and businesses who typically pay several dollars per gallon higher than Nassau due to the extra transportation and logistics costs in their supply chain.
And he warned that the price of fish staples, such as snapper and grouper, will inevitably have to rise if the fuel spike and other cost increases are prolonged as a result of the US and Israeli assault on Iran even though fierce “competition” in the industry keeps prices keen.
However, Mr Maillis told this newspaper that - despite the Middle East fall-out - the Easter weekend will remain “bountiful” with fish sales and prices comparable with 2025 and prior years and showing no sign of any decline. He spoke as one of the three oil majors and distributors operating in The Bahamas yesterday went up on gasoline and diesel prices to leave the latter near $7 per gallon.
“We haven’t really seen an adjustment to the price of fuel at the pump yet,” Mr Maillis said, “but it’s only a matter of time before the prices reflect what’s going on in the international market. We’re dreading it. There’s nothing that can be done. We’re victims of the international market.
“Unfortunately, with this war, we are totally beholden to what happens. Right now a lot of boats are coming in to avoid the present bad weather and offload their catch. Everyone is filling their boat [tank] to the brim. I filled up to the brim. We’re afraid because everything is going up. We finally had a season where fuel prices seemed to be coming back down. We were celebrating that, and now it looks like it’s going to be over.”
Warning that most fisheries products sold in the Bahamian market will see price increases if fuel and other costs remain high, or continue to rise for a prolonged period, Mr Maillis added: “If the price of fuel goes up as high as anticipated, customers will have to understand people cannot take a loss on their product. There’s going to have to be some form of adjustment.
“In Nassau today, the price of diesel is almost at $7 per gallon at the pump. It’s begun. It’s happening in real time. It’s going to have to go somewhere. Unfortunately, the customers will suffer or we will have to go out of business. Everybody suffers when the price of energy goes up. I feel really sorry for the Family Islands where any price increase in Nassau is multiplied for them, with the extent depending on the particular island.”
Crude oil prices have increased by 60 percent on the Brent crude index since the Middle East conflict began at end-February 2026, with per barrel costs hitting $116 again yesterday. The impact, having worked its way through the supply chain, has now reached The Bahamas, with transportation - the ground in-country variety, as well as freight and shipping costs - among the first to feel the effects. This will, in turn, impose cost and inflationary pressures on most goods and services.
Debra Symonette, Super Value’s president, yesterday told Tribune Business that the 13-store supermarket chain will “do what we have to do to stay in business” as it braces for increased costs to strike “any minute now”.
“It’s such a predicament,” she said. “The gas prices are already going up so we are watching this. All these things are affecting what we have to pay in the end. The freight charges will definitely go up. We’re expecting that any minute now. There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight to this war. Anything can happen.
“If everything keeps going up, we won’t be able to absorb all the increases. Eventually we would have to increase prices. Of course, we’ll try to keep the increase to a minimum but it’s something we won’t be able to help.
“Currently, we are just on stand-by. We know it’s coming. We don’t know how much it’s going to be. We just have to wait and see what everything comes up to. Shipping, suppliers, everything’s going to come into play to determine what we have to do. We’re just hoping for the best but they’ll pass it on to us. We just have to monitor it and do what we have to do to stay in business.”

Mr Maillis, though, voiced optimism that Easter sales will not be impacted by the Middle East fall-out and global economic turmoil and uncertainty. He predicted that demand, driven by tradition and Bahamians’ love of fish at Easter, as well as the peak winter tourism season, will again result in demand for staples such as snapper outstripping supply.
“The problem with the timing of Easter is that it comes right at the end of lobster season,” the NFA secretary explained. “Everybody is expending energy to finish up lobster season so, unfortunately for consumers, it doesn’t leave a lot of fish available for them. The demand is always an issue around Easter. This is going to be a good Easter.
“We always expect prices to be very high, and unfortunately, fishermen are unable to meet the demand. We’re not anticipating any change from year to year. It should be relatively the same as 2025.”
Mr Maillis said there was no ‘price setter’ for the whole of the Bahamian domestic fisheries market. While the processing houses typically determined those for lobster, pricing for the likes of grouper and snapper is often set by the likes of hotels, restaurants, “middle men” and consumers.
“The problem is everyone is not on the same page in the industry,” he argued. “There are so many levels of fishermen, middlemen or sellers - people who own restaurants and have a boat. There’s no collaboration among the fishing community to say this is the minimum price or approved price of grouper. There’s always an element of price war going on.
“We try to sell fish at margins that give a respectable profit. In this country there is a lot of competition among fishermen, so when customers expect a certain price they try very hard to keep that. Prices have remained stagnant, in some cases even going down for certain seafood products, which is really against market forces with costs going up and never coming down.
“There’s only so much fishermen can hike up in price when it’s their family, friends, middle income Bahamians who want fish. They cannot say come and eat this Business Licence fee right now to make up for an increase.”