Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 7 • Number 10 • 25th May 2007

Marine Scientists Appeal to WTO to Halt Overfishing

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A group of international marine scientists have appealed to WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, asking him to push for a slashing of fisheries subsidies that they believe are the principle cause for declining fish stocks in the world’s oceans. Signed by a group of 125 fisheries experts from 27 countries, the declaration was delivered to the WTO head on 24 May in Geneva.

The statement, which was sponsored by marine conservation professor Daniel Pauly of the University of British Colombia and marine biologist Boris Worm from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, calls on Lamy to use his ’skill and leadership’ to encourage a successful outcome to the fisheries subsidies negotiations. Under the Doha Round talks, the WTO is engaged in ongoing discussions on fisheries disciplines (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 11 May 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/07-05-11/story3.htm). As part of these negotiations, proposals that call for sweeping prohibitions on fisheries subsidies have been introduced by the US and Brazil and backed by a strong coalition of support from member states, including New Zealand and Chile.

Supporters both within and outside of the WTO believe the recent proposals represent an historic moment at which environmental concerns can be addressed through trade negotiations. “The WTO has a once in a lifetime chance to demonstrate that it can not only balance trade and the environment, but make one of the greatest contributions to protecting the world’s oceans,” said Andrew Sharpless, the CEO of the marine conservation group Oceana.

Not only is fish a heavily traded commodity, it also plays a vital role in sustaining the welfare and livelihoods of about one billion people worldwide, mainly in developing countries. Yet, scientists have reported that fish stocks are dramatically decreasing due to government-sponsored subsidies that provide incentives for overcapacity fishing. It is estimated that if overharvesting is not halted soon, the world’s fish stocks face irrevocable collapse within 50 years.

Signatories to the letter addressed to Lamy assert that the WTO has the opportunity to reverse this cycle through implementing stronger fisheries disciplines globally. “The WTO needs to seize the opportunity presented by the fisheries subsidies negotiations to address global overfishing, because as the world’s leading scientists have declared, if we wait it will be too late,” said Sharpless.

Delegates to the WTO are to meet on 11 June to continue negotiations on fisheries subsidies under the Doha Round talks.

Additional resources

The letter to Lamy is available at http://oceana.org/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/reports/Scientists_Letter_FINAL_5_24_07.pdf

ICTSD reporting; “Scientists urge WTO to act to slash fishing subsidies,” REUTERS, 24 May 2007; “Leading Scientists Appeal to World Trade Organization to Stop Destructive Fishing Subsidies,” OCEANA, 24 May 2007.