High fuel costs are putting pressure on commercial fishing businesses along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline, with one Two Rivers fisherman temporarily tying up his boat as operating costs outpace his catch.

According to NBC 26, marine diesel prices in Wisconsin have fallen from roughly $6 a gallon in May to about $5 a gallon, but the elevated costs have continued to weigh on fishing businesses.

Paul LeClair, owner of Susie Q Fishing Co. in Two Rivers, catches and purchases fish for sale at his storefront. His vessel, the Susie Q, can burn roughly 100 gallons of diesel a day.

With catches falling as low as 50 pounds of fish, LeClair said the economics no longer made sense.

“We were only catching 50 pounds of fish and it wasn't worth all the trouble, we weren't making any money,” LeClair told NBC 26.

LeClair has stopped fishing with the Susie Q until December and said higher operating costs are also beginning to reach customers. After absorbing those expenses throughout the summer, he plans to raise smoked fish prices after Labor Day.

“We're not overly getting rich but we are paying the bills, hanging in there,” he said.

Fuel costs have also been a concern for charter operators along the Wisconsin lakeshore. Dan Welsch, owner of Dumper Dan's, told NBC 26 he kept prices steady this season despite higher fuel expenses.

Welsch said customer numbers remained strong and he decided against adding fuel surcharges, noting that many customers already face higher transportation costs traveling to the area.

For operators like LeClair and Welsch, fluctuating fuel prices remain a familiar challenge, but this summer's costs have underscored just how quickly fuel can affect the economics of fishing on Lake Michigan.