Fisheries subsidies, the WTO, and sustainability

Abstract This article analyses the World Trade Organization (WTO) fisheries subsidies mandate and the outcomes of the 12th and 13th Ministerial Conferences. It assesses the relative merits of outcomes under the various pillars of negotiations and recommends a greater focus on addressing issues such as special and differential treatment, overfishing, and overcapacity. In order to address overfishing and overcapacity, WTO members that subsidize long-range fishing must drastically reduce such subsidies due to their deleterious impact on fish stocks, the marine environment, and the livelihoods of millions of low resource fishers.