230/ Azevêdo on World Fisheries Day: Time to end harmful fishing subsidies
21 November 2019
On the occasion of World Fisheries Day on 21 November, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo called on WTO members to curb the harmful subsidies that encourage overfishing and inflict great damage on the marine environment.
“There is no denying that marine fish stocks are being exploited at an unsustainable rate. Harmful subsidies are a big part of the problem. Public funding of destructive fishing practices cannot go on at the expense of the ocean and the billions of people who depend on it for their food and livelihoods,” he said.
“Governments have a window of opportunity to act: by swiftly agreeing on binding disciplines on fisheries subsidies at the WTO, they can halt the damage before it becomes irreparable,” DG Azevêdo said.
“Members continue to advance towards common ground on this sensitive and complex issue. They must use the time remaining this year to lay the groundwork for reaching a comprehensive agreement in 2020. We must not let the world’s fish and the world’s people down,” he said.
UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 14.6 sets a deadline of 2020 for eliminating subsidies to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and for prohibiting certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, with special and differential treatment for developing and least-developed countries.
Source: wto.org
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