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TOKYO (AFP) — Thousands of Japanese fishermen rallied in Tokyo on Tuesday to protest against soaring fuel costs as boats across the country sat idle for a one-day strike to draw attention to the industry's woes.

Warning that soaring oil prices could put them out of business, about 3,600 fishermen gathered in a park, demanding state subsidies and emergency help, organisers said.

About 200,000 boats -- almost the country's entire fishing fleet -- cancelled the day's work to raise awareness of the industry's plight, a move likely to impact restaurants and dinner tables around the country.

"Because of this abnormal surge in fuel prices, the fishing industry in our country is on the verge of extinction," Tatsuya Hayasaki, a fisherman who came from the southern prefecture of Kagoshima, shouted to the crowd.

"If the lights of Japanese fishing go out, Japan's traditional culinary culture will disappear. Japan's food crisis is already here," he said.

Fishing boats across the country sounded their whistles at 11:00am as part of the protests amid a global backlash against surging oil prices.

Strikes are rare in Japan, which has one of the world's largest fishing industries but virtually no natural energy resources.

Bearing banners reading, "Put a stop to rising fuel prices!", protesters marched to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to demand financial assistance, chanting: "We can't go fishing, being in the red!"

But the government has been lukewarm about the idea of special assistance for fishermen.

"It is difficult to directly subsidise them," Masatoshi Wakabayashi, the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, told reporters.

But he added: "We will introduce the maximum measures available under the current budget."

The government has already announced measures to help small firms, fishermen and farmers cope with high oil prices, easing conditions for state-backed loans and stepping up aid to foster better fuel efficiency.

Oil prices have doubled over the past year and are up five-fold since 2003, hitting record highs above 147 dollars a barrel last week.

Thousands of fishing boats are already sitting idle at port because fishermen cannot afford fuel.

"Oil prices are high, fish prices are cheap, and we can't go fishing because we only lose more money. Do they say we have to die?" said Hisako Kumagai, a fisherman's wife from the northern prefecture of Aomori.

"If we can't go fishing at this time of year, we can't make ends meet for the rest of the year. I don't know how to pay school fees for our children and housing loans," she said.

Squid fishermen went on a two-day strike last month and Japan's tuna industry is considering keeping one-third of its long-line fishing boats in harbour this summer due to the high cost of fuel.

"If we go out to sea, fuel costs are too high, and business has slumped into the red," said Yoshiro Kiyono, a 74-year-old fisherman from Katsuura in Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo that is famous for its bonito catch.

"I've stopped going out to sea because I can't make a profit."

He said fuel prices had tripled compared with three years ago, describing the current oil shock as even worse than the first two in the 1970s.

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