Ambitions to finalize a two-part treaty to equitably stop governments from funding overfishing were dashed again at the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi, which ended in the early hours of March 2. “This outcome is not just disappointing; it’s a dire blow to global marine biodiversity,” Daniel Skerritt, a senior analyst at U.S.-based conservation NGO Oceana, said in a statement. “The WTO’s continued failure to prohibit subsidy-driven overcapacity and overfishing jeopardizes the lives of millions of people who depend on healthy fish populations for their livelihoods and food security.” Governments around the world pump an estimated $22 billion annually into so-called “harmful” fisheries subsidies, blamed for depletion of global fish stocks and distorted market dynamics. WTO member states have been trying to negotiate a deal to end them for 22 years. The WTO’s 12th ministerial conference, MC12, in June 2022 finally brought a partial result. Delegates hustled a truncated deal, dubbed Fish One, over the line at the last minute, but only by putting off crucial aspects for resolution at this year’s meeting, MC13. Delegates to MC13 worked hard to do that, but agreement on Fish Two remained out of reach despite a 36-hour extension of the meeting. “We came so close, but at the end of the day the one or two matters we could not bridge need more consultation … more thought, more engagement,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO’s director-general, said in her closing statement. “It makes me wonder if the WTO is ever going…This article was originally published on Mongabay
The post Stalemate: WTO talks again fail to end overfishing subsidies appeared first on EnviroLink Network.