Nutrition and the environment
Global prohibition of the most harmful fishing subsidies
Subsidies for illegal fishing are now taboo worldwide. What the new agreement means for consumers and seas – and why the WWF demands even more.
The ruthless fishing in the world’s oceans should end. For this purpose, a global fishing agreement has come into force that prohibits the most harmful fishing subsidies and is supposed to protect over -fishing stocks.
It was negotiated by the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. This is prohibited, for example, subsidies for fleets that contribute to the illegal, unemployed and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing), as well as for unregulated deep sea fishing.
This does not have an immediate effect on the availability or the price of fish. But the agreement is also good news for German consumers and fishermen, as Anna Holl from the WWF environmental foundation says. “The seas are connected worldwide, fish know no limits. If we want to continue eating fish, stocks worldwide must be protected, with global agreements that everyone adhere to.” WTO boss Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: “This agreement ensures the livelihood for millions of people.”
EU among the largest subsidies
According to a 2019 study in the journal “Marine Policy”, fishing subsidies were a good $ 35 billion annually. $ 22 billion (now 18.7 billion euros) were those that increase the fishing capacity. China, the EU, the USA, South Korea and Japan, were called the largest subsidizers.
According to the UN Nutrition and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 35.5 percent of more than 2,500 tested fish stocks worldwide are overfished.
WWF: Further agreements are necessary
The contract has now entered into force because two thirds of the 166 WTO members have ratified it, most recently Brazil, Vietnam, Kenya and Tonga as well as Oman and Mali. The EU, China and the USA are also there, but not India or Indonesia, the huge Asian island state with a large fishing industry. The focus is on the first WTO agreement with ecological sustainability.
The WWF welcomes the agreement. For example, it introduces obligations for countries, more data about stocks and subsidies and to take account of how over -fishing stocks are rebuilt, as Holl says. “The agreement must now be fully implemented. Then we need another fishing agreement as soon as possible, which closes existing gaps and also stops the subsidies that contribute to overcapacities of the fleets,” said Holl. Another agreement is already being negotiated.
dpa
Source: Stern
