Fuel costs hurting NC’s fishing industry

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ High fuel prices are sinking North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Tuesday that fisherman can’t earn enough from their haul to pay for the fuel to go to sea.

The state’s $82 million commercial fishing industry is suffering as diesel prices now average $4.73 per gallon. That’s up $2.97 per gallon from last year.

Because of imports, the prices for North Carolina’s biggest catches, crabs and shrimp, have been held down.

Sheldon Daniels of William Smith Seafood in Beaufort says he hasn’t been out this year because of the prices. Daniels says ordinarily, his trawlers would have been out for a month by now.

Sean McKeon with the North Carolina Fisheries Association says as many as 40 percent of boats stay tied to the docks each day, from Florida to Maine.