Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says fuel is distributed daily to fishery harbhours though it may not be the full requirement as each multi-day fishing boat requires several thousand litres for a trip.
When boats return, the transport of fish is also threatened. The Ministry of Fisheries said all efforts were being made to supply kerosene and diesel to fishermen though the volumes were sharply below requirements.
“We are currently supplying fuel according to the stocks we receive, to the fishing fuel station around the country,” Nelson Edirisinghe, media secretary to the ministry of fisheries told EconomyNext. “However, we doubt whether we can meet the entire demand”
Fishing boats need around 900,000 liters of kerosene a day but the Ceylon Fishery Harbhours Corporation gets only around 300,000, Edirisinghe said.
“So the distribution is being done according to the supply we get. Some harbors do not have a fuel station, so they are being supplied by other fuel stations or in alternative ways” Edirisinghe said.
Fish prices are moving up as the currency collapse by the soft-pegged central bank alters the price structure of the economy. Minister of Fisheries, Douglas Devananda had discussed with the exporters in the industry to obtain the necessary dollars to purchase fuel needed by the fishing boats in an attempt to dollarize the sector. Partial dollarization is already taking place in the economy.