Fishermen based in Kyle claim that prices have been increased three times over the past few days, even though the shipload of fuel from which the fishermen are supplied came in well before the strike.

They claim the price should have remained constant, since the council itself had to pay the one price for the fuel. The fishermen also claim that small local boats are unable to get discounts enjoyed by large vessels, often foreign-owned, which take on larger volumes of fuel when bunkering on the west coast.

Kyle-based marine operator Murdo MacRae, who operates a landing craft and two creel boats, alleged the council’s action over the past few days, was simple profiteering at the expense of local fishermen.

Mr MacRae said: “We buy red diesel from the council, at some of the council-owned piers. These include Lochinver, Kyle, Portree and Uig.

"We feel that the council has used the uncertainty caused by the Grangemouth strike over the past couple of weeks to put up the price of fuel. We saw the tanker coming into Kyle well before the strike and there were no shipments of fuel since the tanker came in. They would have paid a certain sum per litre for the fuel, and you can understand that there would be a small percentage on top for them to make a profit.

"But what has happened is that the price has increased three times since the tanker came in to Kyle.”

Mr MacRae added: “A small boat uses around 100 gallons a day, and that kind of price rise makes a big difference to costs.

"We have been told by fishermen in the Western Isles that they sell the fuel based on the price at which it was bought, until that load of fuel runs out, so Highland Council is profiteering.”

The fishermen are also annoyed that discounts, which seem to be available to boats which take on larger volumes of fuel, are not available to the mainly smaller boats in the local fishing fleet.

Mr MacRae said: “The council sells at prices on a sliding scale and offer discounts for the vessels that can take on volumes of 10,000 litres.

"These are vessels operated by the Ministry of Defence or the large Norwegian wellboats used by the fish farming industry. It doesn’t apply to boats taking on 200 to 300 litres.

"In fact, the smaller boats face a surcharge if they can source fuel cheaper from BP or Scottish Fuels, these suppliers are charged 1p a litre for using the council’s piers to get the fuel to the boats.

"If the council wants to help employment in the local communities, they are going about it the wrong way.”

A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The council regularly reviews the price of fuel that it supplies at both Kyle and Lochinver Harbours.

"The prices that are charged reflect the increase in price that the council is charged from our supplier, which is directly related to European gas oil prices.

"The two most recent changes to the fuel prices at these harbours were levied on 17th April with an increase of 3p /litre up to 47.56p /litre; and on 26th April an increase of 2.35p /litre to 49.91p /litre, both these increases were as a result of increasing world oil prices and are in keeping with increases charged by other oil suppliers in the Highlands.”

The spokesperson added: “The council operates a volume discount scheme for larger purchases of fuel. For purchases over 10,000 litres the buyer will receive a 0.01p discount per litre.

"For health and safety reasons, fuel tankers are not permitted on the quays, however on occasions where this is unavoidable, a wharfage charge of 1p per litre is applied to contribute to the costs of the operation and maintenance of the facility.

"The council is committed to providing quality services at a reasonable cost by supplying marine gas oil at a competitive rate to the benefit of the maritime industry.”

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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