The shipowners announce the blockade of the Strait of Messina for 22 October against high fuel prices, with the use of 100 fishing boats from Sicily and Calabria. The date of the protest was indicated after the assembly of the island’s navies, which took place in the port of Catania.
«The Sicilian navy, together with the Calabrian one, will block the Strait of Messina on 22 October», confirms Fabio Micalizzi, president of the Sicilian Shipowners’ Federation. The demonstration, he explains, involves “the blocking of national and international naval transit and the use of as many as 100 fishing boats from Sicily and Calabria”.
The request: a cap on the price of diesel for fishing
«Professional fishing cannot continue like this. Diesel – adds Micalizzi – is our raw material: without fuel the fishing boats remain in port and businesses die.” The request to the national government is to evaluate a ceiling on the price of diesel fuel intended for professional fishing, compatible with national and European standards.
The shipowners’ proposal is to aim, under ordinary conditions, for a cost for businesses of no more than 0.40-0.50 euros per litre. In the current exceptional situation, the request is not to exceed 0.60-0.70 euros per litre, through the fiscal, compensatory and support instruments permitted by law.
Tax credits, tenders and projects, Micalizzi claims, «are not enough if today the shipowner does not have the economic convenience to start the fishing vessel. We are not asking for yet another sop.”
The cost of the protest and the front of the hauliers
Participating in the event on the Strait will reportedly involve spending between two thousand and five thousand euros for each boat. However, shipowners are asking for a measure that “tackles the problem at its root”.
«If the cost of a fishing trip exceeds what the company can earn, the result is inevitable: boats stopped, crews out of work, businesses at risk of closure and less Italian fish on our markets. The government uses all available tools and immediately opens a discussion with the category”, urges Micalizzi.
In Sicily the protest is developing on two fronts: the shipowners are joined by the hauliers, who today are seeking a discussion with the Region to ask for the launch of the announced measure to support the sector. In the absence of answers, they plan to block the ports.