Farmers and fishermen warn of strikes as fuel prices ruin the industry

THE fishing and farming industries in the Balearics joined forces yesterday in flashing a warning light to the regional government about the negative effect that fuel prices are having on their livelihoods. Head of the Fishermen's Association in Palma, Josep Domingo Bonnin, and the president of the Farmers' Union, Biel Company made it clear to the media yesterday that following oil prices reaching a new ceiling of 76 dollars a barrel. Things have got to the stage where producers are seriously considering closures of businesses on a massive scale.
Both leaders agreed that the industries in the Balearics will go on functioning as long as the economics of businesses can be kept at a reasonable level. But they were of the opinion that the situation had become “unsustainable” and that it was time for the deterioration to be addressed at a national level. Bonnin said there needed to be a “united show of force” from the fishing and farming industries which would include strikes and demonstrations.
The fishermen's chief said that there was no way they could pass on the cost of fuel price rises to the public, so the workers themselves were having to bear the brunt of the soaring fuel tarrifs.