Fuel cooperative taps emergency reserve as diesel prices strain fleet

The Puerto Azul Fuel Cooperative announced yesterday that it has activated an emergency pricing reserve, capping diesel sales to registered small-boat fishing crews at 2.40 florins per liter through the end of November. The measure represents a 0.44-florin discount from current wholesale rates and is funded by the cooperative's strategic reserve, established in 2019 following a similar fuel-price spike.

The announcement came after weeks of pressure from the Costa Mar Cooperative Federation and individual captains who have reported that rising diesel costs have made weekly fishing runs economically marginal. The cooperative's board of directors voted unanimously on Friday to activate the reserve, citing "demonstrated hardship in the active small-boat fleet and the systemic importance of that fleet to the region's marine ecosystem management and tourism infrastructure."

The measure is temporary and does not address the underlying volatility of global crude prices or the florin's peg to the euro. The cooperative's director, Tomás Ríos, said in a statement that the reserve is "intended to provide breathing room while longer-term solutions are developed at the Federal and regional levels."