1. Ernesto Fernandez Monge
Senior Officer, Conservation Support
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Fromthe seabedtothe highseas:Howinternational
negotiationscan savetheocean'sfuture
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
UNOC side event

2. • 1st binding WTO agreement trade & sustainability
• Help make gov accountable
• All subsidies, including capacity enhancing will be prohibited
to: IUU, Overfished stocks, Unregulated high seas
• Soft rules on reflagging and unassessed stocks
• Robust notification and transparency requirement
• Commitment to add further overfishing and overcapacity
rules
WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement

3. FAO High Seas Area 41: Southwestern Atlantic
Ocean
Flag state # DW
vessels
Effort
(hours)
Effort (kW
hours)
Subsidies
(2018 $US)
%
China 283 215,736 294,854,529 320,129,751 62.1
South Korea 33 37,687 51,786,360 71,409,642 13.8
Spain 55 73,080 58,226,378 54,805,678 10.6
Chinese Taipei 111 87,094 83,970,816 24,927,574 4.8
Brazil 12 11,736 4,912,553 15,739,552 3.1
Chile 4 3,055 5,226,690 7,497,516 1.5
Argentina 26 513 813,003 375,344 0.1
Others 53 36,361 43,487,489 20,893,914 4.1
Total 577 465,262 543,277,818 515,778,971 100
91.3% of
all DWF
subsidies

4. • Element of puzzle to improve ocean governance
• Improved standard from other regional arrangements
(USMCA)
• Important step to address overfishing
• Contribute to better alignment between subsidy policies
and sustainability objectives
• Catalyst for broader fisheries reform
• Contribute to improve livelihoods and food security
Why is important from Marine Conservation perspective?

5. Revert Declining Global Fish Stocks
Source: FAO SOFIA Report (2020)
State of Fish Stocks 2017:
34% overfished
60% maximally sustainably
fished
6% underfished
State of Fish stocks 2000:
27% overfished
48% maximally sustainably
fished
25% underfished

6.  Members ratification (2/3 WTO Members) and implementation
(typically 2-3 years for entry into force)
 Inclusion of further disciplines on overfishing and overcapacity
 Monitoring and transparency (Members and Civil Society)
What is next for the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement?

7. Thank you!!
Questions?
Ernesto Fernandez Monge: efernandezmonge@pewtrusts.org