Mapping the unjust global impact of harmful fisheries subsidies

Harmful fisheries subsidies contribute to overfishing leading to environmental and societal impacts1. If only fisheries within the subsidising nations’ jurisdiction were affected, then unilateral actions might be sufficient to help safeguard our ocean and the people reliant upon it. However, just as fish move between jurisdictions2, so too do the subsidised fishing fleets targeting them3. As such, the impacts and solutions to subsidies-induced overfishing are matters of international concern. Mapping that impact is therefore key to understanding these concerns and informing multilateral reform. Here we combine existing datasets4–6 to quantify the amount of harmful fisheries subsidies impacting the high seas, domestic and foreign waters, respectively. We estimate that between 24% and 43% of all harmful fisheries subsidies impact foreign waters or the high seas. We show that harmful subsidies primarily originate from countries with high-Human Development Index (HDI), strong fisheries management capacity and relatively sustainable fish stocks, yet disproportionately impact countries with low-HDI, lower management capacity and more vulnerable stocks. Indeed, over 40% of the harmful subsidies impacting low-HDI countries originate from high-HDI countries. This discrepancy between the source of harmful subsidies and the nations that are ultimately impacted is unsustainable and unjust. Policy-makers from all nations must push for effective multilateral subsidies reform. Prohibiting subsidies to distant-water fishing should be prioritised to support equitable and sustainable fisheries worldwide.

Keeping UNCLOS Relevant

After years of delicate negotiations, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) went into force in 1994. Over 25 years later, UNCLOS as a tool for cooperation and coordination is more policy relevant than ever before as the global community seeks to better understand and protect the oceans. Yet, some of the most difficult subject matters for the 21st century including industrial fishing, labor practices, plastic pollution, and climate change are only indirectly addressed by UNCLOS. This article suggests that States could update UNCLOS by amendment to remain relevant by explicitly addressing concerns such as transshipment, perverse fisheries subsidies, multi-species management, maritime trade slavery, plastic litter from the fishing industry and land sources, climate-impacted fisheries, geo-engineering, and renewable energy. While amending UNCLOS might be considered politically impractical, even a rudimentary conversation on amending the treaty would provide much-needed political focus on critical ocean topics where there are present governance gaps.