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Alaska's U.S. senators introduced a bill Thursday that would help commercial fishermen cope with record-high fuel costs.

"With the chinook quota cut in half, halibut quota shares cut 27 percent this year, and they're predicting a really poor pink return for seiners in Southeast, this is something that might be really helpful," said Kathy Hansen, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Fishermen's Alliance.

Republican Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski co-sponsored the Fisheries Fuel Tax Relief Act of 2008. They expect support from other coastal states, whose fishermen also have been hit by the prices, according to aides.

Commercial fishermen can already deduct the cost of fuel from their taxable income. This bill would give them an extra credit covering the difference between current fuel prices and those from Labor Day of 2004, adjusted for inflation.

The credit would be good for two years. It's meant as temporary relief until long-term solutions are found for prices that are unlikely to drop soon.

Murkowski said in a statement that high fuel prices are having a "devastating impact" on the commercial fishing industry because fishermen can't pass fuel costs to customers, use alternative transportation or sell their product for higher prices.

The tradeoff is that less money will make its way into the Treasury, a Murkowski spokesman said. The analysis of how much less hasn't been done yet, though.

Diesel prices have increased more than 50 percent from last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Meanwhile, fish prices haven't gone up enough to cover the extra expense.

Fishermen at Sand Point, in the Aleutians East borough, went on strike this month when processors offered 70 cents for king salmon, or a nickel more per pound than last year, while diesel fuel prices rose from $2.90 to $4.90.

The pain is felt worldwide, as crude oil prices continue to rise. Thousands of fishermen in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy stayed at the docks this summer to protest fuel prices.

Petersburg commercial fisherman Sara Stoner started a petition in May asking policymakers for help. More than 1,700 Alaska fishermen signed it.

She got the idea on a trip with her husband coming home from Sitka that cost $600 in fuel.

"I was so mad that we were not going to be able to do this forever," she said.

Stoner said her fellow fishermen are changing how they fish.

"Usually you go out, search for the fish, look around. Now we're not able to go out and look for the fish until we hear about them," she said.

And some people are bagging fishing for weeks at a time - including SEAFA director Hansen and her husband, Ed Hansen, as of last week. Filling up at the dock costs between $800 and $1,000 now, at $4.60 a gallon.

Kathy Hansen cited "the combination of fuel, fish prices and the number of fish you can catch," she said. "It looks like we probably won't fish until the July 1 king salmon opening."

• Contact reporter Kate Golden at 523-2276 or kate.golden@juneauempire.com.