Fisheries subsidies, the WTO, and sustainability.

This article examines the World Trade Organization (WTO) fisheries subsidies mandate, focusing on the outcomes of the 12th and 13th Ministerial Conferences and the challenges in addressing subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity. It highlights the 2022 WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which prohibits subsidies for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, fishing of overfished stocks, and fishing unmanaged stocks on the high seas, while emphasizing the need for special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs). The article underscores the significant role of capacity-enhancing subsidies, particularly fuel subsidies to large-scale and distant-water fishing fleets, in driving environmental harm and economic distortions, noting that many high-seas fishing operations are only profitable due to such subsidies. It also discusses the political complexities surrounding SDT, the enforcement challenges of international fisheries law, and calls for stronger commitments from major subsidizing countries to reduce harmful subsidies in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6.