Spikes in crude oil prices have forced several fishing companies here to go bankrupt, one of Japan's biggest bases for deep-sea long-liners engaged in tuna fishing.
"Deep-sea fishing operations now only add to our losses," said Isato Sakuragi, adviser to a Kesennuma-based skipjack and tuna fisheries cooperative for the northern area of Miyagi Prefecture. His cooperative has 15 members for a combined fleet of 48 deep-sea tuna long-liners.
For the deep-sea vessels, which ply distant waters, rising fuel costs are a serious issue. The surge in oil prices have boosted annual fuel costs for a deep-sea long-liner by some 50 percent from 40 million yen two years ago to about 60 million yen to 65 million yen, erasing the profits made on their catches, industry officials say.