Many boating-related industries generally see business picking up again as temperatures warm, but the high prices of gas and fuel this season have left companies like Galveston Deep Sea Charters in Texas and Galveston Shrimp Company in deep trouble.
Facing the increasing fuel prices that, as result, have increased the cost of boat rentals and charters, boat captains like Cody Kenney are left with two choices: cancel the not profitable charters or increase ticket prices.
The prices of diesel over the past two years – according to the US Energy Information Administration – has nearly doubled to over $4 per gallon this year from the average of $2.40 per gallon in 2020.
Having that in consideration, Kenney said it’s a significant change when one’s burning 3, 4, or 500 gallons in one trip, so they’re forced to charge more.
However, he plans to keep the prices in Galveston Deep Sea Charters low and instead replace the company’s boat engines with new, more fuel-efficient once since the boat is pretty important for the business.
Stressing that the increases are not just hitting the tourism industry, Galveston Shrimp Company’s Nello Cassarino points out that everything they do – from fishing boats to trucks that deliver the product- involves fuel so they have to increase the prices at least a 35% if not more in some categories.
Cassarino underscores that the fix is not as easy for the seafood industry since passing those prices onto the consumer isn’t a reliable option because they’ll simply stop buying and cause a ripple effect that will see the plants laying off employees, trucks stopping moving etc.
Although the fish and seafood prices rose by 1.3% in January, the US Department of Agriculture predicted an additional increase between 3.5% and 4.5% by the end of the year that, according to Cassarino warnings will lead to empty shelves since there’s no incentive for a grocery store to carry expensive seafood that consumer had stopped buying.
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