United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Europe

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Division of Technology, Industry, and
Economics Economics and Trade Branch
Environmental Aspects of Fisheries Subsidies
A brief overview of UNEPs work and findings
WTO Symposium on Trade and Sustainable
Development 10-11 October 2005
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Overview of the Fisheries Sector

• Critical to national economies

• Developing countries US18 billion
• (net fish export)

• Key source of employment

• 38 million worldwide

• Essential for food security

• 1 billion depend on fish as primary source of
  animal protein

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Trends in the Fisheries Sector
Source FAO, Review of the state of world marine
fishery resources (2005)
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Trends in the Fisheries Sector
Source FAO, Review of the state of world marine
fishery resources (2005)
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Trends in the Fisheries Sector
Source FAO, Review of the state of world marine
fishery resources (2005)
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Factors Leading to Overfishing

• Inadequate fisheries management

• Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing

• Overcapacity

• Subsidies

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UNEPs Mission

• Further understanding and awareness of the
  impacts of fisheries subsidies

• Provide a forum to discuss innovative approaches
  to fishery policy reform

• Promote sustainable fisheries management and
  practices, especially in developing countries

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Main Activities

• Country Projects

• Stakeholder Consultations

• Analytical Publications

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Country Projects
Mauritania (forthcoming)
Bangladesh (1999 2004)
Senegal (2002 2004)
Uganda (1999)
Argentina (2002)
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Country Study Bangladesh

• Economic potential of marine fisheries
  significant
• Subsidies to the industry negligible
• More scope for sustainable exploitation of
  marine fisheries and economic development of the
  sector
• Need for financial and structural assistance

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Country Study Mauritania

• Fisheries sector key source of income
• Numerous access agreements signed
• Effects
• -decrease in fish stock (e.g. octopus)
• -shift in catches to export species
• -loss of jobs
• -negative social and environmental consequences
• Need for better resource management for
  sustainable fisheries sector

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International Stakeholder Consultations

• UNEP Fisheries Subsidies Workshop (2001)

• Workshop on the Impacts of Trade-Related
  Policies on Fisheries and Measures Required for
  their Sustainable Management (2002)

• UNEP Workshop on Fisheries Subsidies and
  Sustainable Fisheries Management (2004)

• Promoting Development and Sustainability in
  Fisheries Subsidies Disciplines An Informal
  Dialogue on Select Technical Issues (2005)

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Analytical Publications

• Analyzing the Resource Impact of Fisheries
  Subsidies A Matrix Approach (2004)

• Incorporating Resource Impact into Fisheries
  Subsidies Disciplines Issues and Options (2004)

• Artisanal Fishing promoting poverty reduction
  and community development through new WTO rules
  on fisheries subsidies (forthcoming in 2005)

• Reflecting sustainable development and SD
  treatment in the context of new WTO fisheries
  subsidies rules (forthcoming in 2005)

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Subsidy
Management
Exploitation
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Matrix of Impact of 8 Categories of Subsidies
NH Not Harmful PH
Possibly Harmful H
Harmful / Not Applicable
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Future Initiatives

• Two newly-commissioned papers on
• -considering a role for subsidies in re-orienting
  developing country fisheries policies towards
  sustainability and
• -access agreements

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Thank You
United Nations Environment Programme Division of
Technology, Industry and Economics Economics and
Trade Branch The International Environment
House 11-13, chemin des Anémones Ch 1219 Geneva,
Switzerland Tel [phone] www.unep.ch/etb