Saving Seafood

WTO taking yet another swing at passing fisheries subsidy deal

October 15, 2024 — The World Trade Organization is once again pushing to get approval of a fishery subsidies draft agreement in advance of its December general council meeting, according to sources at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The WTO has been trying to expand on its smaller 2022 deal by adding clauses that further limit subsidies leading to overcapacity and overfishing in global fishing fleets. A draft text circulated in July allowed for carve-outs and phase-in periods for poorer countries without distant-water fleets.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

China distant-water fleet slashes wage bill to stay profitable

July 31, 2024 — China’s distant-water fishing industry is reliant on low-wage labor to buttress poor profitability, according to a report from U.K.-based nonprofit Planet Tracker.

“Fishing Thinking: Solving China’s Distant-Water Challenges,” released 30 July, found the impacts of climate change and a World Trade Organization deal to limit subsidies will force the owners of China’s huge commercial fishing fleet to transition to a more sustainable business model.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Fishing treaty fails at WTO, prompting US, Chinese concern

July 23, 2024 — Countries and environmental groups voiced concern and disappointment on Tuesday after a draft treaty to cut fishing subsidies failed to pass, with China calling for major changes in how countries negotiate at the World Trade Organization.

The talks, seen as critical to helping over-fished stocks recover, have been going on for more than 20 years at the WTO with an initial package approved in 2022.

The second phase tackling some of the toughest remaining issues had been drafted for approval at a WTO meeting this week but was blocked by India which criticised what it called the treaty’s “significant shortcomings” while seeking deeper carve-outs for developing countries.

Read the full article at Reuters

Disparity between fishing subsidies and sustainable fisheries management aid shown in WTO report

July 10, 2024 — A new report published by the World Trade Organization Secretariat shows governments spend 63 times more on fishery subsidies than they have on official development assistance (ODA) toward fisheries sectors in the world’s least developed countries.

The report, “Leveraging Global Partnerships to Implement the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies for a Sustainable and Food-Secure Future,” found that between 2010 and 2022, USD 6.2 billion (EUR 5.7 billion) was committed to support marine fisheries. Of that total, 71 percent comprised assistance directed at supporting the design and implementation of sustainable fisheries policies and practices in developing economies.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

WTO negotiators pushing for fishing subsidies ban before August break

June 27, 2024 — World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators pushing for a treaty to end harmful fishery subsidies around the globe are setting their sights the next WTO General Council meeting, set to begin 22 July.

Negotiators failed to reach an agreement at the WTO’s ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, but on World Oceans Day on 6 June, the WTO released a video expressing optimism a deal might be reached during the July meeting.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Stalemate: WTO talks again fail to end overfishing subsidies

March 6, 2024 — Ambitions to finalize a two-part treaty to equitably stop governments from funding overfishing were dashed again at the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi, which ended in the early hours of March 2.

“This outcome is not just disappointing; it’s a dire blow to global marine biodiversity,” Daniel Skerritt, a senior analyst at U.S.-based conservation NGO Oceana, said in a statement. “The WTO’s continued failure to prohibit subsidy-driven overcapacity and overfishing jeopardizes the lives of millions of people who depend on healthy fish populations for their livelihoods and food security.”

Governments around the world pump an estimated $22 billion annually into so-called “harmful” fisheries subsidies, blamed for depletion of global fish stocks and distorted market dynamics. WTO member states have been trying to negotiate a deal to end them for 22 years.

Read the full article at Mongabay

WTO fails to reach deal on fishing subsidies

March 4, 2024 — World Trade Organization negotiators are regrouping after failing to reach an agreement on a treaty curbing harmful fishery subsidies at the 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Despite optimism for a deal prior to the meeting, several developing nations, including India, rejected the proposed text in the final hours of the meeting on Saturday, 2 March, in opposition to what they described as “loopholes” for big fishing nations.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Cutting fisheries subsidies

July 8, 2022 — In studies that look at their global impact, fisheries subsidies that nations pay out to build up their capacity to catch fish are defined as “subsidies that encourage fishing capacity to develop to a point where resource exploitation exceeds the maximum sustainable yield, effectively resulting in the overexploitation of natural capital assets.”

China has spent billions on this type of subsidy – over $5 billion of the $35.5 billion in U.S. dollars spent on subsidies worldwide. The U.S. is also a major contributor to fisheries subsidies, but they are primarily beneficial – not capacity enhancing – subsidies, defined as “investments in the promotion of fishery resource conservation and management.” The US and Canada are unique in spending more on beneficial subsidies than capacity-enhancing subsidies.

But on June 17 the World Trade Organization (WTO) took a step toward leveling the playing field, introducing new rules intended to put a check on fisheries subsidies.

Conservation groups are divided on their appraisals of the new rules, with the Pew Charitable Trusts calling them a move in the right direction, and Oceana’s Andrew Sharpless lamenting the WTO’s work.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Explainer: What’s Included in the WTO’s Fishing Subsidies Agreement?

June 30, 2022 — It has taken more than 20 years, but government representatives at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva have finally agreed on a deal to curb the harmful subsidies that are compromising fish populations and damaging the marine environment.

It is the first time the WTO’s 164 members have made a deal with “environmental sustainability at its heart,” said the WTO director-general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in her closing speech. “This is also about the livelihoods of the 260 million people who depend directly or indirectly on marine fisheries,” she added.

The agreement bans subsidies for vessels and operators engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and puts curbs on funding that supports the exploitation of overfished stocks. It also prohibits subsidies for fishing on the high seas – areas beyond national waters – if operations fall outside the jurisdiction of a regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO).

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive