MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — Gas prices for boaters filling up at the fuel dock have nearly doubled over the past couple of weeks, making deep cuts in how much profit businesses that operate on the water can turn.

Before the spike in gas prices, charter boat captains and fishing tour operators have faced rising labor and supply costs. Gas prices are the next big hit.

Capt. Dylan Hubbard is the fourth generation owner of Hubbard's Marina in John's Pass. He said the spike in fuel costs has forced them to rework their day-to-day operations.

"Now we have to be really careful about how we operate," he said. "It's getting harder and harder to get fuel from the port."

Gas prices on the water far exceed what they do on land. According to Hubbard, the cost of gas at the fuel dock has increased 30-40% and now sits around $5.80 to $6 a gallon.

"We try the best we can to keep prices of our tickets down to allow more access to more people, but as costs go up you have to increase prices or do a fuel surcharge," he said.

Prices for Hubbard's fishing charters and dolphin boat tours just went up in January to account for rising labor and supply costs. Because of that, he said he plans to take the hit for now to try and not pass this increase along to his customers.

Instead, he's taking a closer look at how efficient trips and tours are. They are now fishing smaller areas and minimizing the time that engines are on.

"God forbid we have a bad hurricane season or a red tide event or, who knows, maybe another global pandemic," he said. "We have to save some profit to be able to grow and prosper and continue to last. We've been here nearly 100 years and four family generations and I don't want to be the one who fails on that watch."

Hubbard also serves as the president of the Florida Guides Association, which is made up of professional fishermen. He said they are working with the state on some type of tax relief for fuel surcharges.