200,000 boats stop fishing to call for steps to cover losses due to high oil prices

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

200,000 boats stop fishing to call for steps to cover losses due to high oil prices

Japanese fishermen on July 15 went on strike and held rallies nationwide in protest against skyrocketing fuel prices.

They urged the government to extend financial support to cover losses arising from rapidly rising fuel costs, give them tax breaks, regulate the rampage of excessive speculation in the international oil market, and secure the stable supply of fuel.

About 200,000 fishing boats nationwide stayed to take part in the strike called by 17 major fisheries organizations, including the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Association.

Some 3,000 fishermen and their relatives assembled in Tokyo from around the country to attend a rally and march in demonstration through the administrative district to the ministry of fisheries building.

A 65-year-old woman from Miyagi Prefecture, whose husband is a fisherman, said, “Fuel prices are going up but fish prices are not. We have a hard time making ends meet because the cost of living is rising, including pension premiums, nursing-care insurance premiums, and taxes. My husband has been fishing tuna since he was 20 years old, but he no longer will be able to go fishing unless this price spiral stops. Help us, please!”

Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives Kokuta Keiji and House of Councilors Kami Tomoko sent a message in solidarity with this action.

Pointing out that the root cause of the skyrocketing oil prices is an uncontrolled influx of global speculative money into oil, they criticized the Japanese government for failing to take any effective steps to control the inflow of such money when it chaired the recent G8 Summit in Hokkaido.

They said that the JCP would cooperate with other parties in the effort to overcome the present fisheries crisis. “Rather than refueling the U.S. forces free of charge, the government should use tax money to help Japanese fishermen because they cannot tack the increased oil price on fish prices,” they added.

- Akahata, July 16, 2008