Middle East fuel crisis keeps Mozambique fishermen ashore

MAPUTO – Dozens of low fishing boats lay anchored in flat waters off Mozambique’s capital, stranded for days as surging fuel costs kept their owners from heading out to sea.

Since the government hiked prices in early May because of the impact of the Middle East conflict on supply, many fishermen in Maputo’s quiet Pescadores quarter have not had the cash to fuel a fishing trip.,“The impact is dramatic for us,” said Carlos Nguenha, vice president of the local community fisheries council, as wooden boats bobbed idly behind him, some piled with nets. “These conflicts don’t only impact those countries, they affect the whole world,” Nguenha said. “We appeal to them to sit down and talk so that we can overcome this.”