Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 12 • 25th June 2004
Costs of Marine Protection Lower than Fisheries Subsidies - Study
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According to a new study by the environmental groups WWF and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the cost of establishing global networks of marine protected areas — estimated at US$ 12-14 billion — would be less than the amount annually spent on fisheries subsidies (US$ 15-30 billion). Such subsidies are frequently cited as one of the main causes underlying overcapacity of fishing fleets, and consequently overfishing, and discussions have been underway at the WTO on how to address their negative effects (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 11 June 2004). Networks of marine protected areas, the study’s authors conclude, would help safeguard a global fish catch worth up to US$ 70-80 billion per year, preserve marine services valued at US$ 7 trillion annually and generate between 830,000 and 1.1 million full-time jobs. Although marine habitat loss is estimated to equal or exceed that of rainforests, only 0.5 percent of the sea is currently under protection compared to 12 percent of land area. The groups would like to see 20-30 percent of oceans protected in an effort to achieve governments’ commitment made at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development to create national networks of marine parks by 2012.
“Global network of Marine parks would cost less then current government expenditures on harmful fishing subsidies,” WWF-RSPB PRESS RELEASE, 14 June 2004.
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