MEXICO CITY, Jan 7 (IPS) – Thousands of fishermen in Mexico have gone on strike over the last few days to protest the rise in the cost of diesel fuel which, they say, has reduced their profit margin to zero. But the industry’s problems, which have been simmering for decades, go beyond the question of fuel prices.

The strike, named "Zero Fishing 2009", was declared in the northern state of Sinaloa by fishermen operating around 100 small and large boats. In less than a week, the number of vessels involved in the strike had climbed to over 2,500, and dozens more are joining every day around Mexico, which has nearly 10,000 kilometres of Pacific and Atlantic coastline.

"The protest was barely planned. Everything happened fairly spontaneously and naturally, and that’s how it will continue, because the problem is that the numbers just don’t work out anymore, there is no more profit margin," Rafael Ruiz, president of the National Chamber of the Fishing and Aquaculture Industries, told IPS in a telephone interview.

From 2006 to 2008, the price of a litre of diesel fuel used by boats went up from 3.50 to 7.38 pesos (from 26 to 56 cents of a dollar).

Diesel fuel represents 60 percent of a fishing vessel’s total costs, said Ruiz from his office in Tamaulipas, a northern state on the Gulf of Mexico.

"We didn’t want to stop working because this leaves us without an income," said the president of the national chamber, which is leading the protest. "We are not part of the public sector, and no one will reimburse us for our losses, but there was no alternative."

The head of the governmental National Commission on Aquaculture and Fisheries, Ramón Corral, accused the organisers of the strike of being politically motivated and called on them to negotiate.

But Ruiz said that no government official has contacted him or any other business leader in the industry.

"By demanding a review of the cost of diesel fuel, what we are asking for is merely a ‘bandaid’, because the problems in our industry are structural and date back many years," he said.

Overfishing, disorder in the concessions for fishing associations and cooperatives, and competition from informal sector fisherpersons are some of the problems faced by the industry, which according to official figures represents 0.8 percent of Mexico’s GDP.

Fishing industry output has remained basically stable since 1987, when it stood at 1.4 million tons. In 2008, production was 1.3 million tons.

The National Chamber of the Fishing and Aquaculture Industries reports that around 250,000 people directly depend on fishing in Mexico, although official statistics put the total at closer to 270,000.

According to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), more than 90 percent of the nearly 106,500 fishing vessels in Mexico are small boats (up to 36 feet in length).

"The official figures are chaotic, and that is another of the problems caused by the lack of a national development strategy for the fishing industry," said Ruiz.

But conservative President Felipe Calderón says the industry is doing well thanks to the government’s measures and support. Officials point to shrimp farming, where production rose from 18,000 to 120,000 tons between 1997 and 2008.

Public spending in the sector amounted to 292 million dollars last year, 68 million of which went towards subsidising the price of fuel for fishing vessels.

But the government gradually increased the price of diesel fuel for boats to the current level, which fishermen say is simply impossible for them to afford.

The strike has reduced supplies of seafood products in urban markets in Mexico, and has driven up prices.

"Zero Fishing 2009" will continue until fuel prices are reduced, "but that would be just a start, because what we need is a complete overhaul of the sector," said Ruiz. (END/2009)

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