Migrant fishers and the organizations that represent them are hopeful that reports of a nearly finalized deal between the U.S. and Iran to cease hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz will offer some semblance of relief to the sector.
Chris Williams, the fisheries section coordinator at the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), told SeafoodSource that the war on Iran has had “major impacts for seafarers but also fishers as a result of higher fuel prices.”
“For employers, the issue is higher costs, which usually means they squeeze wages. Initially, there were also massive hikes in airfare, which impacted recruitment,” he said, estimating that there are 350,000 Indonesians working on trawlers worldwide, making them a key source of labor for large distant-water fleets.
Zabidi Zabidi, chairman of the Indonesian Fisherman Association (INFISA), agreed that the conflict has been “deeply impacting” Indonesian workers on foreign vessels.
“The surge in global fuel prices has significantly driven up ship operating costs. As a result, many vessel owners and foreign fleet operators have made the tough decision to temporarily or permanently stop operating their ships,” he said. “Because so many fleets are grounded, thousands of Indonesian fishery workers are currently facing severe difficulties.”
Those difficulties include a “drastic reduction in available positions on active vessels, making it incredibly hard for displaced workers to find new jobs,” Zabidi said.
He also warned that the war, though potentially nearing a conclusion, will have effects long past its end date.
“For the past two decades, INFISA has actively cooperated in the global fishery labor market. Foreign vessel owners faced a shortage of skilled fishery labor, and INFISA stepped in to successfully bridge that gap by providing highly skilled Indonesian workers,” Zabidi said. “Unfortunately, the current fuel crisis is heavily disrupting this longstanding, mutually beneficial ecosystem.”
In South Asia, meanwhile, small-scale fishers who work on their own boats have had their incomes similarly slashed by higher fuel prices.
Sebastian Matthews, who is the former executive director of Chennai, India-based NGO International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), told SeafoodSource that “the fuel price hikes since April have been adversely affecting fishing operations in the region, which make it even more difficult to discuss rationalization of fuel subsidies.”
Though the war has had several negative effects, Matthews said it might have presented the industry with a good reason to more intensely consider fuel alternatives.
“Under these circumstances, it would be good to push alternatives to fossil fuel propulsion such as electric motors. We are also looking for information on such initiatives from countries like Indonesia, China, etc.,” he said.
