Evolución del precio del gasoil y del precio del pescado fresco en los últimos diez añosUna aproximación desde la Geografía

Abstract

Since the year 2000, when the average price was 25 Euro cent per litre of diesel fuel used by the fishing fleet, there was an overall upwards trend that culminated in the summer of 2008 when prices reached an all-time peak of 75 Euro cents per litre. This forced many vessels to tie up in port due to the lack of profitability of fishing operations, a measure that received the backing of the European Union. What finally determines whether a fishing expedition is profitable or not is the first sale price of the fish landed, established by the Dutch auction system. This price, however, has fluctuated greatly in recent years, with steep falls in many cases being the consequence of a drop in consumption and the arrival of large amounts of imported fish in the market. This situation has aggravated the permanent crisis affecting the Galician fishing fleet, hard hit by the progressive regulation of access to its traditional fishing grounds and forced to go further and further afield in search of catches, with the resulting rise in the importance of fuel as a factor in overall operating costs, and its effect on profitability. Research projects in recent years have focused on trying to make fishing vessels more efficient in terms of diesel consumption, and a number experiments have also been carried out into the use of alternative fuels, but no significant progress has yet been made towards obtaining an «efficient fishing vessel».