“Too Few Fish: A regional assessment of the world’s fisheries,” released on 26 May by the environmental group Oceana, maintains that more than 80 percent of the world’s fisheries cannot survive increased fishing activity and that only 17 percent of global fish stocks should be considered able to withstand any growth in catch at all.

Oceana’s report reviews data gathered by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the status of fish stocks both regionally and globally. The report maintains that “the reality (is) that the vast majority of stocks are exploited at or beyond their maximum sustainable potential.” Of stocks reviewed in the report, 77 percent are at a level at which no further expansion is possible. Significantly, this is the first time ever that total global catches are reported to be declining, despite technological advances.

Regionally, the northeast Atlantic, southeast Atlantic, southeast Pacific, and the southern oceans have the highest proportion of overexploited, depleted and recovering stocks. Additionally, eight out of the ten species that account for 30 percent of the global marine catch are either fully exploited or over-exploited.

The report also highlights the need for strong action to limit global fisheries subsidies in the ongoing fisheries negotiations of the Doha Round of the WTO (see related story, this issue of the BioRes). Oceana argues that continued government subsidies to fishing sectors create incentives for fishers to over-exploit the marine environment in an increasingly inefficient manner. Instead of preserving fish stock through sustainable practices and effective management, demand is growing for what are becoming rarer and more sought-after fish. Thus, stocks that have already been exploited are now being pushed towards extinction.

The report was released in conjunction with a photography exhibition entitled ‘The Deep: Life on the Deep Sea Floor’ at the WTO by Claire Nouvian, ocean ambassador for the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Nouvian was joined by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy and Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of IUCN’s global marine programme.

The report is available online at http://oceana.org/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/dirty_fishing/toofewfish4.pdf.

ICTSD reporting.

China has enjoyed impressive economic growth since 2006, but faces challenges in the form of rising income inequality, a widening gap between savings and investment, as well as other economic imbalances, according to the review (for a full account of the review, see Bridges Weekly, 28 May 2008, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/08-05-28/story4.htm).

One of the issues highlighted in the China TPR was its use of export taxes, reduced VAT rebates, licensing requirements, and other trade measures to restrain, if not prohibit, exports of a considerable and growing number of products that use large amounts of natural resources and energy. A good example is China’s recent increase in interim duty rates on 142 tariff lines with a view to reducing exports of highly energy- and pollution-intensive products as well as those that consume large amounts of raw materials.

While the large size of China’s industrial sector is partly responsible for the energy intensity of the country’s economy, the report also pointed out that price mechanisms for oil, coal, electricity and natural gas have artificially lowered prices, causing an overconsumption of energy. The second-largest energy user in the world, China is also the second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, thanks in large part to the fact that 70 percent of the country’s energy production comes from coal.

Therefore, the report outlined a number of potential areas for reform. It called for a gradual dismantling of price controls and other impediments to the efficient allocation of land, energy, water, and other natural resources. Such changes would promote stronger environmental protection, especially if supplemented by market-based instruments that require polluters to pay for the damages they cause, according to the report.

The documents related to the China Trade Policy Review http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp299_e.htm.

ICTSD reporting.