Global trade agreement targets harmful fishing subsidies

A new multilateral agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO), aimed at phasing out harmful fisheries subsidies and enhancing the sustainability of marine resources, entered into force this week. The UN FAO welcomed the agreement, saying it aligns with its measures to tackle illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing.

The WTO agreement came in response to many governments providing subsidies to fishing fleets, which has led to overfishing and marine ecosystem depletion. The new rules prohibit subsidies to vessels engaged in IUU fishing or to those fishing in overexploited areas.

Other new requirements include greater transparency and reporting obligations in which countries must notify and provide information about subsidies.

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in her address to the WTO membership: “At a time when the international trading system faces profound challenges, the agreement on Fisheries Subsidies sends a powerful signal that WTO members can work together in a spirit of cooperation and shared responsibility to deliver solutions to global challenges.”

“The entry into force of this Agreement stands as a reminder that many of the biggest challenges we face are more effectively addressed at the multilateral level. People and nations need a multilateralism that delivers — which is why today is so reassuring.”

FAO welcomes agreement

The FAO provided policy support to WTO members and said it would collaborate in the operations of the WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism. This mechanism will provide targeted technical assistance and capacity development to developing economies and the least developed countries.

FAO assistant director-general and head of its Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Manuel Barange, comments: “This agreement is very positive for the sustainability of fisheries resources, which we all depend on. FAO looks forward to helping implement the agreement and achieve its potential.”Critics are concerned the agreement still does not ensure adequate protection to small fishing communities.

“Fisheries provide food, improve nutrition and support livelihoods — the world cannot afford to subsidize practices that compromise the long-term benefits of the sector.”

Barange says increased collaboration at the regional level is crucial to ensure the agreement achieves its objectives.

The Port State Measures Agreement, an international binding FAO instrument, entered into force in 2016 and currently includes 84 parties, including the EU. It is designed to deter and eliminate IUU fishing.

Concerns and criticisms

Critics have raised concerns that some potentially harmful subsidies, like those for vessel construction or modernization, are not fully addressed in the new agreement. Another issue is that monitoring and enforcement of the agreement will depend on quality scientific data to understand whether a stock is overfished.

Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Seru Kamikamica said the deal “does not sufficiently address environmental concerns” and fails to adequately protect smaller coastal communities from large subsidisers.

Likewise, Dr. Rashid Sumaila, professor of ocean and fisheries economics at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, wants “the large subsidising countries to put a cap on the current level of subsidies.”

In related news, a new Model Seafood Welfare Standard was announced this month to address the lack of welfare standards for fish and other seafood species in the food industry.