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Historic WTO deal aims to curb IUU fishing, depletion of fisheries

FORUM Staff

An historic deal reached by the World Trade Organization (WTO) during its June 2022 conference in Geneva, Switzerland, aims to curb illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, reduce the strain on dwindling fishing stocks and ensure more transparency and accountability through improved conservation and management measures. The agreement explicitly prohibits subsidies, considered by environmentalists to be the biggest contributing factor to depleting fish populations globally.

“The package of agreements you have reached will make a difference to the lives of people around the world. The outcomes demonstrate that the WTO is, in fact, capable of responding to the emergencies of our time,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a news release. “They show the world that WTO members can come together, across geopolitical fault lines, to address problems of the global commons, and to reinforce and reinvigorate this institution. They give us cause to hope that strategic cooperation will be able to exist alongside growing strategic competition.”

(Pictured: World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and conference Chairman Timur Suleimenov celebrate at the close of the June 2022 conference.)

Countries routinely subsidize commercial fishing, providing grants and tax incentives that increase revenue and reduce costs, according to Mongabay, a nonprofit environmental science and conservation news platform. Such subsidies contribute to climate change and can harm an ocean’s biodiversity. Data suggests that governments spend U.S. $35 billion annually on fishing subsidies, with U.S. $22 billion going to harmful subsidies, according to Mongabay.

“It is finally an international recognition by states that the majority of fisheries subsidies are harmful and encourage overfishing, environmental destruction and the accelerated disappearance of small-scale fishing worldwide” Claire Nouvian, founder of Bloom, a nonprofit that works to preserve the marine environment and species, said in a news release. “This is a historic step forward. The text is flawed and imperfect but still marks a huge advancement.”

The deal didn’t come easy. Negotiations progressed during the final hour of the conference after marathon talks that lasted through the night.

Australian officials praised the contribution of Pacific partners, saying “negotiators from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat helped save the fisheries subsidies deal” by insisting on its inclusion, according to a news release from Canberra’s Trade and Tourism Ministry.

“To ensure the treaty worked best for the Pacific region and delivered maximum environmental benefit, negotiators also pressed for a ‘high ambition’ provision, to tackle subsidies to long-distance fleets on the Pacific Ocean,” the news release said. “Australia and Fiji worked together closely in the talks to insist on a treaty upgrade within four years to tackle subsidies which lead to overcapacity and overfishing. This innovative new provision will reduce overfishing on the high seas by major fishing nations with long-distance fleets, the type of fishing that is most harmful to fish stocks in the Pacific region.”

The ministry called the deal “the most substantial treaty negotiated at the WTO in a decade.”

“It is also the first treaty focused on environment issues struck at the WTO, helping meet one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, on ocean sustainability,” it said.

Though the deal was widely celebrated as a milestone, some still criticized WTO members for leaving out important concessions just to ensure its passage. Questions, for example, remain on how to enforce the agreement.

“Crucially, the agreement does not include a single reference to ‘capacity enhancing’ or ‘harmful subsidies’ — the largest ones that lead to exploitation,” The Guardian newspaper reported. “It does not ban any public money from governments going towards subsidizing capital costs, such as modernizing fishing fleets and replacing engines, or running costs such as fuel.”

WTO leaders recognized that more must be done. In his closing remarks, conference Chairman Timur Suleimenov said: “This week, you have all contributed to making what seemed impossible come to fruition. We have all engaged in frank and sometimes very difficult conversations. We may have not achieved everything that we set out for, but we have delivered, and this is something that all of us should be proud of.”

IMAGE CREDIT: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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