KUANTAN, June 11 – More than 500 fishermen and trawler boat operators have gone on strike for three days from today over the June 1 diesel subsidy cuts, threatening to extend it and cause seafood prices to spike unless the government reinstates their subsidised fuel.

Kuantan Fisheries Association chairman Chia Hee Juak said the fishermen and operators were incurring the burden of buying diesel at RM1.80 a litre, while their catch from the sea did not commensurate with the cost they had to bear.

Those operating trawlers in the C2 category or 30 nautical miles offshore used to pay RM1.25 under a super diesel subsidy scheme.

“In addition they have to pay the monthly instalment on the trawler vessels and the dragnet costing between RM500,000 and RM1 million,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama Online.

A trawler boat operator, Hing Hua Kow, on strike at the Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) complex here, said some of them were already planning to sell off their boats as they could not afford to bear big losses.

Until May 31, 2011, the C2 trawler operators received a subsidy of 28,000 to 30,000 litres of diesel at RM1.25 per litre per month. The C2 trawlers and nine other logistic-related groups are affected by the withdrwal of super subsidies for fuel.

Putrajaya said the subsidy cuts would save RM659.30 million, and was due to the global increase in fuel prices.

Groups opposing the cuts have urged the government to abolish subsidies to Independent Power Producers (IPP) and AP (approved permit) holders.

The government had earlier decided that the operators of C2 fishing trawlers were required to purchase diesel at a price of RM1.80 a litre and not at the super subsidised price of RM1.25 a litre, which they were earlier eligible for.

The Kuching Trawlers Association and its members unanimously decided last Saturday to stop going out to sea for a month, in line with other state chapters who said they would begin the boycott today. There are 101 Malaysian trawlers operators in Sarawak with C2 licences.

The boycott could lead to a further spike in food prices although Malaysia imports a major portion of its seafood from neighbouring countries.

Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew 2.9 per cent for the first four months of this year against the same period last year, with food registering a 4.5 per cent increase over the same duration last year.

According to the statistics department, the inflation rate for April 2011 was 3.2 per cent against the same month last year.