Creating sustainable fisheries through trade and economics Paths to Fisheries Subsidies Reform: Creating sustainable fisheries through trade and economics Andrew Rubin1, Eric Bilsky1, Michael Hirshfield1, Oleg Martens2, Zara Currimjee3, Courtney Sakai1, April 2015 1Oceana, Washington, DC, United States; 2Independent researcher, Washington, DC, United States; 3Oceana, Madrid, Spain. This work was supported with a grant from The Rockefeller Foundation. Introduction The world depends on the oceans for food and livelihood. More than a billion people worldwide de- pend on fish as a source of protein, including some of the poorest populations on earth. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world must produce 70 percent more food to meet coming hunger needs.1 Fishing activities support coastal communities and hundreds of millions of people who depend on fishing for all or part of their income. Of the world’s fishers, more than 95 percent engage in small-scale and artisanal activity and catch nearly the same amount of fish for human consumption as the highly capitalized industrial sector.2 Small-scale and artisanal fishing produces a greater return than industrial operations by unit of input, investment in catch, and number of people employed.3 Today, overfishing and other destructive fishing practices have severely decreased the world’s fish populations. The FAO estimates that 90 percent of marine fisheries worldwide are now overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted, or recovering from overexploitation.4 Despite the depleted state of the oceans, many governments provide subsidies to their fishing sectors. Some subsidies support beneficial programs, such as management and research. However, other subsidies drive increased and intensified fishing, such as programs for fuel, boat construction and modernization, equipment, and other operating costs. These “overfishing” subsidies allow fleets to fish longer, harder, and farther away than otherwise would be economically possible. Subsidies also have links to other destructive fishing practices, such as Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Global fisheries subsidies are estimated at $USD 35 billion.5 Subsidy programs to increase fishing capacity dominate in both developed and developing countries. Capacity-enhancing programs are estimated at $USD 20 billion, an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the global catch value, which ranges from approximately $USD 100 billion to $USD 110 billion. The scope, magnitude, and effects of these programs are so significant that addressing harmful fisheries subsidies is one of the greatest actions that can be taken to protect the world’s oceans. 1 Alexandratos, N. 2009. Proceedings of a Technical Meeting of Experts, How to feed the world in 2050. FAO. Rome. at 1-32. 2 World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization and World Fish Center. 2010. The Hidden Harvests -The global contribution of capture fisheries. Conference Edition. Washington, DC. 3 World Bank, et al., 2010. 4 FAO. 2014. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. available at: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3720e.pdf. 5 Sumaila, et al. 2013. Global Fisheries Subsidies. Directorate-General for Internal Policies, Policy Department, Structural Cohesion Policies, EU Parliament. available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/note/join/2013/513978/IPOL. at 28-32. OCEANA | 3 Purpose and Approach Oceana conducted research on the role of subsidies in promoting overcapacity and overfishing, the scope and impacts of such subsidies, and opportunities for reform through multilateral, regional, and bilateral organizations. This project is intended to provide a tool for identifying and evaluating different options, approaches, and places to advance fisheries subsidies reform. The project addresses three key research questions: 1. What is the scope, magnitude, and impacts of fisheries subsidies? 2. Where, when, and how have fisheries subsidies been addressed at the international, regional, and national levels? 3. What are possible venues and organizations for fisheries subsidies reform? The project primarily consisted of desk research by Oceana staff and consultants, which was supplemented by consultations with experts and other specialists, and selected field visits. The project work was conducted between December 2014 and January 2015. 4 | Paths to Fisheries Subsidies Reform: Creating sustainable fisheries through trade and economics Structure of Report This report contains three sections: The first section provides the results of the organizational “mapping” of possible options and venues for fisheries subsidies reform. Through a tiered review process, Oceana selected 21 entities for more detailed research. These venues have reasonable relevance to fisheries, subsidies, and/or development, and include multilateral, regional, and bilateral organizations. Reasonable attempts were made to include geographic diversity in the selection of venues. Oceana compiled background information on each organization, its governance and decision-making processes, and experience with fisheries subsidies. Additional research was undertaken to identify potential actions and activities that could be pursued on fisheries subsidies reform in each venue. These findings are summarized in an “Organizational Profile” for each of the venues. Oceana evaluated the potential of each organization to produce outcomes on fisheries subsidies reform. In this analysis, Oceana used a set of criteria to provide a basis and means to compare and weigh different venues. These criteria include: • Relevance – The relevance of the organization and its work to 1) subsidies, 2) fisheries, and 3) poor and vulnerable populations. • Geographic Reach – The geographic reach of the application of outcomes produced by the organization. • Rigor of Outcome – The strength of a potential outcome in directly achieving subsidy reform. • History and Experience with Fisheries Subsidies – The level of institutional knowledge and experience of the organization in fisheries subsidies issues. • Ease of Organizational Process – The extent to which the organization’s internal process is straightforward and/or uncomplicated. • Ease of Politics and Decision-Making – The absence of political level decision-making (by members/countries) in the organization and organizational processes. • Speed – The general pace of the organization in producing products or outcomes. OCEANA | 5 • Level of Fishing Activity – The annual catch by weight of the countries that are members of the organization. • Level of Fisheries Subsidies – The amount of the fisheries subsidies programs of the countries that are members of the organization. • Level of Small-Scale and Artisanal Fishing – A characterization of the extent of small-scale and artisanal fishing in the countries that are members of the organization. Each organization was assessed as “Low”, “Medium”, or “High” for each of the criteria. This analysis is presented in a summary chart and charts for each criterion. The second section addresses the scope, magnitude, and impacts of fisheries subsidies. This section presents the scientific and technical basis of how subsidies impact fishery resources. It provides a summary of the countries that provide fisheries subsidies and the amounts and types of subsidy programs. Finally, this section provides a basic overview of the economic and social consequences of fisheries subsidies, particularly on poor and vulnerable countries and populations. The third section traces the history and evolution of fisheries subsidies reform. This section provides an overview of what has already been done and/or is being done by international organizations and governments to address the problems of fisheries subsidies. 6 | Paths to Fisheries Subsidies Reform: Creating sustainable fisheries through trade and economics Organizational Assessment and “Mapping” of Options and Venues for Fisheries Subsidies Reform • Evaluation Criteria • Summary Chart of Organizations • Charts of Organizations by Criterion • Organizational Profiles Evaluation Criteria Relevance in Mission – The relevance of the organization and its work to 1) subsidies, 2) fisheries, and 3) poor and vulnerable populations. Geographic Reach – The geographic reach of the application of outcomes produced by the organization. Rigor of Outcome – The strength of a potential outcome in directly achieving subsidy reform. For example, a low to high range would include declarations and statements, data and research, and enforceable rules and disciplines, respectively. History and Experience with Fisheries Subsidies – The level of institutional knowledge and experience of the organization in fisheries subsidies issues. Ease of Organizational Process – The extent to which the organization’s internal process is straightforward and/or uncomplicated. Ease of Politics and Decision-Making – The absence of political level decision-making (by members/countries) in the organization and organizational processes. Speed – The general pace of the organization in producing products or outcomes. Level of Fishing Activity – The annual catch by weight of the countries that are members of the organization. This assessment does not reflect fishing that occurs in a country’s national waters by foreign fleets. This assessment is based on 2012 levels, the latest year for which data is available. Level of Fisheries Subsidies – The amount of the fisheries subsidies programs of the countries that are members of the organization.