🐟 WTO to End Fishing Subsidies?
India's small fishermen are heavily dependent on subsidies for their survival. But WTO's new multilateral agreement could force them to hang up their fishing nets.
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea.”
We have heard this proverb at least once in our lifetime (most probably after a break up).
But we may have to invent a new proverb for future generations since the fish population is fast declining.
Almost 34% of the world's fishing resources are overfished and if we keep going at this pace all our marine fisheries could be depleted by 2048!
The World Trade Organisation and several nations are trying to solve this problem but this could pose another problem for India.
🧐 Why is Overfishing A Problem?
With all the massive catastrophes that we are recently facing: the pandemic, a war, climate change, and overfishing may not seem like a huge problem- but it is.
And one major reason behind this is the huge nets that fishing boats use.
These nets often end up catching more fish than their breeding rate, leading to a slow decline and eventual extinction of fish species.
Not just that, these nets also often catch marine species that we don’t consume, like manatees, leading to a disruption of the entire ocean ecosystem.
This will not only impact those engaged in fishing but all of us because fishes account for 20% of the global protein intake and 50% of the animal protein intake in developing countries like ours.
And for all vegetarians reading this and thinking "Huh, not my problem," let us tell you that deep-sea fishes help the ocean absorb carbon dioxide. This means if they go extinct, global warming is going to be an even bigger problem.
Now, the World Trade Organisation has also realised what a huge problem overfishing is.
And it thinks that this problem is fuelled by subsidies.
You see, fishing expeditions usually require a lot of fuel and in some cases even high tech gear.
A lot of fishermen cannot afford this especially as fuel costs keep rising.
So, governments across the world subsidise fuel and other costs for these fishermen.
Now, the problem is most countries, especially developing countries, cannot really discriminate between legitimate fishers and illegal fishers.
These illegal fishers usually don't usually abide by the rules that the Indian government has set up to stop overfishing.: Yes, there are laws prohibiting fishing during breeding periods, banning and regulating some gear and nets that can catch more fish species.
But these laws are difficult to enforce. So, the overfishing problem continues.
💡WTO’s Solution
This is why the WTO wants to ban subsidies for small fishers in coastal regions where overfishing is prevalent.
But if these subsidies are stopped, the livelihood of around 4 million fishermen will be at stake.
So, India has a counter-proposal.
Instead of just banning these subsidies why not ban developed nations from fishing in the deep sea.
After all, it is these developed nations that fish more and subsidise fishing more.
In return, India has asked for special and differential treatment for itself and other developing nations.
We want a 25-year period (instead of the current 2-year period) to wean fishers off subsidies.
Now, whether or not these suggestions will be accepted will have to be seen next week at the WTO meeting in Geneva.
However, even if these negotiations are accepted it will be a short-lived victory for India.
After all, 25 years of overfishing will badly damage our water bodies.
For instance, just in 2012 Kerela's fishermen caught 390,000 tonnes of sardines. Because of this overfishing, they could only find 45,000 tonnes in 2016.
So, even if India chooses to continue with subsidies it has to implement stricter laws to control overfishing and illegal fishing.
One thing we could do is instead of offering subsidies upfront, we could offer the same money as an incentive for following laws.
This would help fishers and reduce overfishing at the same time.
⚡In a line: The WTO wants to put an end to overfishing by banning subsidies that fuel such practices but this could very well end the career of fishermen.
💡Quick question: What other steps do you think the government could take to prevent overfishing?
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we can Improve and expand the Bio-Diversity Reserves for oceans as well.
That could be one of the solutions