Japan to Provide 74.5 Billion Yen Oil-Aid Package to Fishermen

By Takashi Hirokawa and Toko Sekiguchi

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's government will provide 74.5 billion yen ($694 million) of aid to fishermen who are losing income because of the rise in the price of oil, the Fisheries Agency announced on its Web site today.

The government will subsidize 90 percent of the rise in the cost of fuel since December 2007 to fishermen who reduce their oil usage by 10 percent through improving energy efficiency, the government said. The price of oil rose to a record $147.27 per barrel on July 11.

The package includes no-interest loans, government purchase of fisheries products and aid for fishermen who can't afford to go out to sea due to the high cost of fuel. Japanese fishermen went on their first national strike in history on July 15 demanding government aid.

Japan has the highest per-capita consumption of fish among industrialized countries, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. It's the world's largest importer of fish, accounting for almost 16 percent of the $90 billion in annual global trade, the organization says.

To contact the reporter on this story: Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net; Toko Sekiguchi in Tokyo at Tsekiguchi3@bloomberg.net