Ecuador President Daniel Noboa announced at the beginning of June that his government would be eliminating a diesel subsidy for the tuna sector.
In a recent press conference, government spokeswoman Carolina Jaramillo said that Ecuadorian industrial tuna fishing companies should be able to assume the increased costs of eliminating the subsidy, pointing to 2024 tuna export totals by value of USD 1.6 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) and around 565,000 metric tons by volume – a 21 percent increase compared to the annual average over the last decade.
“This favorable performance shows that the industry has the capacity to support the price of the real diesel rate,” she said.
The cut aligns with Noboa's stated vision of allocating subsidies to areas that most need it, making the nation more efficient, and supporting private firms to increase efficiency, Jaramillo noted. As such, the cut has not been applied to artisanal fishing vessels.
Similar government cost-cutting measures precede Noboa’s presidency.
In early 2023, the government ended diesel subsidies for large shrimp farms in a larger push to cut oil subsides and steer more funding toward social programs for the poor. At the time, the country’s National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA) said the cut was unfair and inopportune and that it would seriously affect sector competitiveness.
During Noboa's first term, which ran from November 2023 to May 2025, the government began to reduce subsidies for the sectors that most consumed gasoline in Ecuador in a move it defended as necessary to balance public finances, extending it to more sectors in his second term, which began in late May.
Ecuador’s National Chamber of Fisheries (CNP) and the Association of Tuna Fishermen of Ecuador (ATUNEC) have said the most recent government move will impact operating costs, international competitiveness, and the dynamism of one of the main productive sectors of the country.
The two tuna associations said in a joint statement that the entire Ecuadorian fishing sector consumes only 4 percent – and the tuna sector only 2.8 percent – of the more than 1.6 billion gallons of diesel consumed annually in the country. They provided figures different to those presented by the government, saying that at current diesel prices, the subsidy of the sector is about USD 14.4 million (EUR 12.5 million) a year, compared to government figures of about USD 70 million (EUR 61 million) annually.
“Therefore, the elimination of this subsidy does not constitute a significant contribution to the country's fiscal problems, but it will generate an impact on value chains and communities that depend directly or indirectly on fishing as their livelihood,” the associations said, adding that fuel represents between 30 percent and 36 percent of the fishing costs of tuna vessels.
The associations proposed the formation of a public-private technical working group to implement five “urgent” actions:
- The authorization of free import of diesel, without intermediaries or bureaucratic obstacles;
- The elimination of tariffs on fuel, inputs, and fishing equipment;
- The application of Article 35 of the Productive Development Law, which establishes a zero value-added tax rate for inputs and machinery in the fishing sector and which the two associations said “has not been implemented for seven years;”
- A gradual elimination of the subsidy, which allows the sector to adapt to new costs; and
- Establishment of a line of credit to modernize the tuna fleet
The latter action is already in motion, as the state-run Banco del Pacífico has already announced it will extend lines of credit for up to USD 42 million (EUR 36.5 million), with the support and coverage of the National Development Corporation (CFN), for fishing fleets to renew vessels and equipment.
CNP and ATUNEC further highlighted that the Ecuadorian fishing sector was responsible for USD 2.3 billion (EUR 2 billion) in exports in 2024, the industry is a key contributor to gross domestic product, and that it generates about 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.
“The fishing sector ratifies its willingness to collaborate with the government in the search for solutions that strengthen production and employment,” the associations said. “The diesel subsidy is a public policy tool that has made it possible to sustain competitiveness and employment in the face of rising costs and adverse conditions.”
The subsidy should not be understood as a privilege but rather as a policy that has allowed the country to consolidate a competitive tuna industry, according to CNP President Bruno Leone.
He reinforced the CNP’s call for the immediate establishment of a technical committee between the Executive Branch and the sector to propose concrete solutions and analyze the real impact of eliminating the subsidy.
“This isn't about saying yes or no to the subsidy; it's about how to guarantee the sector's survival under fair conditions,” he told local paper Expreso. “Fishing in Ecuador is not comparable with that of other countries. Here we have labor, environmental, and health obligations. All of this comes at a cost.”
