On Monday 17 October, the European Commission announced that later this week, the EU will submit to WTO member countries proposals to breathe new life into negotiations on fishing subsidies with a view to avoiding further damage to fish stocks around the world.
The European Commission’s proposal has been given the go-ahead by the member states and tackles the two most damaging types of damaging subsidy: subsidies that increase the capacity of fleets to catch fish that represent almost 60% of all fisheries subsidies and lead directly to overfishing; and subsidies granted to fishermen who engage in illegal, unregulated or unreported (IUU) fishing.
While curbing harmful subsidies, the EU proposal foresees flexibility for developing countries and takes account of the needs of fishing communities in least developed and developing countries.
"A broad, multilateral agreement on harmful fishing subsidies will be key to safeguard the world's fisheries. We call upon other members of the WTO to join us in addressing this massive global challenge together, and to implement the commitments we made in the UN Sustainable Development Goals", blogged EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fishers Commissioner Karmenu Vella.
Negotiations should start immediately, in order to reach an agreement at the next WTO ministerial conference in Buenos Aires in December next year, says the EU. The subject is included in the Doha round, but no tangible proposals have yet been made.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that almost 60% of fish resources are at the limit of sustainability.
The Commission explains that the global fishing fleet is far too large to ensure sustainable fishing and the overall picture is alarming across the globe. This issue has been part of the WTO Doha round and some free trade agreements. Some smaller initiatives between groups of countries have also been undertaken recently. None of them could however sufficiently address the real scale of the problem.
At the EU level, the new common fisheries policy ensures that all EU fish stocks are kept at a sustainable level by 2020.
The modernised European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is tackling the specific issue of fleet capacity. It foresees a total of €6.4 billion over the 2014-2020 period, including €4.34 bn for fishing and fish farming. Aid is planned for start-up for young fishermen, aid for improving hygiene, health and safety, and working conditions for fishermen, aid for temporary halts to fishing and aid under certain conditions for ending fishing altogether. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry and Lionel Changeur)