Rhode Island's fishing industry is feeling the pinch of high fuel prices

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Rhode Island's fishing industry is feeling the pinch of high fuel prices High fuel prices are hitting Rhode Island's commercial fishing industry hard. National Rhode Island's fishing industry is feeling the pinch of high fuel prices April 2, 20264:41 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition From By David Wright Rhode Island's fishing industry is feeling the pinch of high fuel prices Listen &middot; 3:28 3:28 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5759671/nx-s1-9713827" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript High fuel prices are hitting Rhode Island's commercial fishing industry hard. Sponsor Message A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: The cost of fuel oil is rising because of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Now, we're seeing it on the ground at gas stations and in the air as airlines raise prices. Today, we look at the water. David Wright reports from Ocean State Media in Rhode Island, where the price of diesel fuel is about $5.75 a gallon.

+ (SOUNDBITE OF ICE SCRAPING) DAVID WRIGHT, BYLINE: Mike Pugliese, known locally as Fishmonger Mike, starts his day scooping plenty of ice. (SOUNDBITE OF ICE SCRAPING) WRIGHT: The shelf life of his product depends on it. What's this? MIKE PUGLIESE: That's fluke. It's a type of flounder. That was caught two days ago. WRIGHT: Right now, fresh seafood is under pressure, in part because rough weather has made this a tough year for New England fishermen. Now they're facing higher fuel prices, too. PUGLIESE: I'm praying that the diesel prices don't go any higher because right now, I think they're at the pinnacle for particularly the local boats here that are doing the fluke offshore. WRIGHT: Over the past month since the war in Iran kicked off, the cost of diesel here in Rhode Island has jumped nearly 50% at local gas stations and here at the dock. (SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE CHUGGING) WRIGHT: Tim Carroll, one of the owners of Seaside Fuel, snakes the long, red hose from his truck into the tank of one of the big boats on the dock at Point Judith. His customers are giving him an earful. Do you hear a lot of complaints? TIM CARROLL: Every day. Everyone I talk to, every single one. WRIGHT: Sea captains like Patrick Duckworth are feeling the pinch. PATRICK DUCKWORTH: Price of fish doesn't come up, price of fuel don't go down, you're going to see this harbor full a lot, all summer long. WRIGHT: Meaning they won't be going out on the water? DUCKWORTH: Yep. Won't be going out on the water. And less money, probably a lot of people that won't have jobs. WRIGHT: The boats here bring in a huge percentage of the nation's longfin squid. If they don't go out to fish, calamari will be in short supply nationwide. Meghan Lapp works for Seafreeze, one of the East Coast's biggest seafood processors and distributors. They buy straight from the boats, process the fish and get it to market. MEGHAN LAPP: Right now, the commercial fishing industry is at its lowest profits recorded in the last 30 years. You know, when you have a fuel increase, it hits you harder than it would have years ago. WRIGHT: She says it's a double whammy. Not only do high diesel prices hurt fishermen, they also hit hard for truckers who deliver it to restaurants and grocery stores. And she says it's not as simple as raising prices to cover costs. LAPP: Usually what happens is that when the cost of domestic product goes up, the country floods the markets with cheaper imports and our prices actually drop. PUGLIESE: Fifty-seven, 71. Thank you. WRIGHT: Back at Fishmonger Mike's seafood shop, Good Friday and the end of Lent normally mean high demand for fish. This year, he's worried. PUGLIESE: If the fuel prices continue to stay high at the pumps, people pour more into their fuel tank, into their car, then that's going to affect what we sell. And I think... WRIGHT: They're not going to have as much money to buy fish? PUGLIESE: Exactly. And I think we're seeing a little bit of that right now. No doubt in my mind. WRIGHT: His suppliers and his customers are both feeling the pinch. For NPR News, I'm David Wright in Point Judith, Rhode Island. (SOUNDBITE OF SCUFF SELAM'S "FOR YOU") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();