THE volunteer coast guard has warned it may have to cut back service under the weight of rising fuel costs and a lack of donations from the people it rescues.

Innisfail coast guard commander Ed Connor said yesterday crews had attended 18 incidents in the past seven months with a fuel bill of $2711, but no one had chipped in to help recover costs.

He said if people continued to ignore requests from the coast guard for financial help, including commercial and charter boats that cost more to tow because of their size, the service would have to be cut.

"The shortfall between government assistance and what is required to provide this marine rescue service has to be raised through sponsorship, meat tray raffles, donations, steak stalls at community events and other activities attended by volunteers," Mr Connor said.

"The point of all this is that if the persons assisted do not contribute to the cost of the tow it has to be paid by someone and that is not the government. It begs the question as to what will happen if our members are unable to raise what is needed."

Since January last year, the price of diesel has risen almost 16 per cent, up from $1.20 a litre to $1.45 per litre.

The fuel bill for Cairns' coast guard has increased from $26,000 in 2006 to $32,000 last year, while Innisfail's costs have risen by $2000 to $13,000.

Cairns coast guard commander Jim Bramich called on boaties to join the Rescue Club, which was the boating equivalent to roadside rescue, or donate money if crews were called out to help them.

"The people who are assisted need to contribute to the fuel the coast guard burnt," he said.

"We have rescued people two or three times, who seem to think they don’t have to worry about boat maintenance, and they still don’t cough up.

"Fuel is our biggest operating cost and we are already spending almost $600 a week.

"Any rise in the cost of fuel means that our costs go up significantly."

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