The environmental activist group Oceana, which advises the U.S. government, estimates that fisheries subsidies total $20 billion a year — equivalent to about one quarter of the value of the world fish catch.
Talks to curb fisheries subsidies have taken on new life, negotiators said on Friday, boding well for efforts to revive depleted global fish stocks and reach a deal to open up world trade.
Trade diplomats said that differences in the fisheries talks at the World Trade Organization remained wide, but countries were working hard to find ways of bridging the gaps.
"It's very clear to me that all delegations remain highly committed and have shown a very constructive disposition," Trinidad's ambassador to the WTO, Dennis Francis, who chairs the negotiations on trade rules that include fisheries subsidies, told Reuters.
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