Exemptions for small, coastal fishing operations remain a contentious issue in World Trade Organization negotiations on a deal to end harmful subsidies to fisheries. Negotiators, who are meeting in person at the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, are largely in agreement that there should be special treatment for artisanal and subsistence fishers, but remain divided on how the exclusions would be structured. Last month, three South American states – Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador – put forward a proposal suggesting subsidy prohibitions for overfished stocks and for overfishing must not apply to low-income fishers operating within 12 nautical miles from the coast, with the exemption applicable for all WTO members, so that none are prevented from investing in their economically disadvantaged communities. “A number of members raised issue with reference to 12 nautical miles in the proposal for different reasons, with some saying this fishing area needed to be enlarged, while others said this was a dangerous loophole that would be hard to monitor,” a trade official familiar with the negotiations told SeafoodSource. “Several further [participants] noted concerns about territorial disputes when bringing in such references into the agreement.” Meanwhile, India has proposed focusing subsidy bans on large-scale industrial fishing and exempting small-scale fishers, a move that would clearly target top distant-water fishing nations like China. But China has sought its own carve-out as it seeks to classify itself as a developing nation, qualifying it for an exemption from the ban on subsidies. Another group of WTO members, including Argentina, Australia, the United States, and Uruguay, want a capping mechanism applied on fishing efforts and flexible subsidies for artisanal fishers.
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