By Facsimile and Email
November 1, 2011
Ms. Tonya Vaturi & Mr. Arthur de la Cruz
UNCSD Secretariat, Division for Sustainable Development
UN-DESA, DC2-2212
2 UN Plaza
New York, NY 10017
Re: Request for Comments on the Rio+20
Dear Ms. Vaturi and Mr. de la Cruz:
Oceana is the largest international organization working solely to protect the world’s oceans.
Global in scope, Oceana has offices throughout the Americas and in Europe and more than
500,000 supporters around the world. Oceana works to protect and restore the health of the
oceans using science-based campaigns. As part of our efforts to promote sustainable fishing,
one of our top priorities is in addressing the considerable subsidies many countries provide to
their fishing sectors. Oceana has been a leader in advancing global reform of fishing subsidies
at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
Oceana submits these comments with the belief that Rio+20 is an important opportunity to
contribute to achieving healthy economies and sustainable development through the global
reform of fishing subsidies.
Oceans and the Green Economy
The heart of the Rio+20 conference is the recognition that the world’s resources are capable of
raising millions out of poverty, but only if they are managed intelligently. Central to achieving
these objectives is the “Green Economy.”
Given the significance of the oceans, both to the environment and to the lives and livelihoods of
billions of people, a group of Pacific Island nations have introduced the concept of the “Blue
Economy” and correctly recognize that this must be an integral of part of any Green Economy.
The Green Economy theme of this conference recognizes strong economic performance as a
prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. In the context of the oceans, this begins
with an urgent need for global reform of fishing subsidies.
Fishing Subsidies/Vaturi & de la Cruz
November 1, 2011
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Sustainable development will only take root and produce the Green and Blue economies that
are sought if we create a framework to support it. Individual initiatives will struggle as long as
economic incentives continue to encourage destructive practices.
Ten years ago, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (Rio+10)
recognized this when it declared that many subsidies to the fishing sector create incentives to
overfish and support illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Fulfilling the promise of the
Green and Blue economies requires following through on those commitments. Only by doing so
can we ensure the ocean will continue to offer its bounty both today and in the future.
The World Depends on the Oceans for Food and Livelihood
Oceans cover more than two-thirds of the globe, provide income and livelihood, and supply
people with a key source of protein in their diets. More than a billion people depend on fish as a
key source of protein.1 Fishing activities support coastal communities and hundreds of millions
of people who rely on fishing for all or part of their income.2
However, oceans are a source of immense but not inexhaustible wealth.
Ten years after the Rio+10 Summit recognized the need to reform fishing subsidies, the world’s
fisheries are close to irreversible collapse. Fish populations, as well as other ocean wildlife,
have been depleted to a fraction of their historical levels – and their disappearance can trigger
cascading adverse effects throughout the ocean.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded in its 2010 State of the
World Fisheries and Aquaculture report that more marine fish populations are now classified as
overexploited and depleted than ever before. In fact, 85 percent of global fish stocks are fully
exploited, overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion.3 More than 90 percent of the
ocean’s large predators -- tuna, marlin and sharks -- have disappeared as a result of industrial
fishing.4 The global economic losses due to overfishing are estimated at US$50 billion a year.5
Fishing Subsidies are a Major Driver of Global Overfishing
Despite the precarious state of the oceans, many governments continue to provide large
subsidies to their fishing fleets. These subsidies allow fleets to fish longer, harder, and farther
away than what would otherwise be possible. The scope and magnitude of fisheries subsidies
and their impacts on overcapacity and overfishing are so significant that global subsidy reform is
likely the single greatest action that can be taken to protect the oceans.
1
OECD, 2011. A Green Growth Strategy for Food and Agriculture
The World Bank Group (2011). Agriculture and Rural Development Department: The Global Program on Fisheries
Strategic Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture
3
FAO. The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010 (SOFIA). Rome, 2010.
4
Myers, R. & B. Worm. 2003. Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities. Nature 423: 280-283.
5
World Bank and FAO. 2009. The sunken billions: the economic justification for fisheries reform. Advance edition.
Washington, DC, Agriculture and Rural Development, World Bank.
2
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November 1, 2011
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Fishing subsidies are defined as direct or indirect financial transfers of funds from public entities
that help make the fishing sector more profitable than it would be otherwise. Fishing subsidies
can create incentives to fish more, even when catches are declining.6 Subsidies can generally
be described in three categories: beneficial, ambiguous, and capacity-enhancing. Beneficial
subsidies enhance the growth of fish stocks through conservation, monitoring and control of
catch rates. Ambiguous subsidies can lead to positive or negative impacts on the fishery
resource depending on the design of the program. Finally, capacity-enhancing subsidies
stimulate overcapacity and overfishing through artificially increased profits that further stimulate
effort and compound resource overexploitation problems. Fuel subsidies, boat construction, and
foreign access agreements are all examples of capacity enhancing subsidies.
An estimated US$16 billion in capacity-enhancing subsidies are provided to the global fishing
sector each year, representing approximately 20 percent of the value of total world catch.7 The
intensity of these subsidies is even greater than those to agriculture.
Government subsidies have led to pervasive excess capacity in the global fishing fleet, while
ongoing government support for fishing ensures that overcapacity is maintained. The global
fishing fleet is up to 250 percent larger than what is needed to sustainably fish the oceans.8
Subsidies enable activity which results in overexploited fish populations, undermine fishing
control programs, and prevent depleted fish populations from recovering.
Fishing Subsidies Lead to Unsustainable Economic and Environmental Practices
Fisheries subsidies are not only environmentally destructive, but also preserve uneconomic and
inefficient practices. Large-scale, distant water fleets are often highly subsidized for their
operations. A recent study found that bottom trawling on the high seas would not be profitable
without high levels of government subsidies.9 This fishing practice is destructive enough that
the United Nations has called for it to be severely restricted.
Fishing subsidies have also been shown to support illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
IUU fishing represents a major loss of revenue, estimated between 11 and 26 million tonnes per
year, worth between US$10 and US$23 billion.10 This is a particular concern for some of the
poorest countries in the world which depend on fisheries for food, livelihood and revenue.
The damage to ocean resources and biodiversity from overfishing will likely have implications
that we cannot fully anticipate. However, one immediate danger is the impact that overfishing
could have on food security. The FAO states: The maximum long-tern potential of the oceans
has been reached. As a result, increased demand for wild-capture fish cannot be met by
increasing fishing effort without restoring fish populations and ensuring their ongoing
6
Sumaila, U.R., and D. Pauly, (2006). Catching more bait: a bottom-up re-estimation of global fisheries subsidies.
Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia
7
Sumaila, U. Rashid, et al. 2010. A bottom-up re-estimation of global fisheries subsidies. Journal of Bioeconomics.
8
Porter, G. "Estimating Overcapacity in the Global Fishing Fleet." World Wildlife Fund. 1998.
9
Sumaila, U. R., Teh, L., Watson, R., Tyedmers, P., and Pauly, D. 2008. Fuel price increase, subsidies,
overcapacity, and resource sustainability. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 832–840.
10
SOFIA. 2010
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November 1, 2011
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sustainability. Sustainable fishing can only be achieved through compliance with effective
fisheries management programs, by controlling illegal fishing and by limiting subsidies.11
Beyond mere economic losses, losses to food production and the inequality of funneling ocean
resources away from the least and lesser developed countries to their more industrialized
neighbors present enormous difficulties. Healthy fisheries could produce even more, both
financially and in food for the world’s people.
The Rio+20 Conference has a Critical Role in Addressing Fishing Subsidies
An international framework to manage fishing subsidies is an essential step towards a
sustainable economies and natural resources. The Rio+20 conference has a role and
opportunity to support and advance these global objectives. Specifically, the Rio+20 conference
should:
1. Reaffirm and strengthen the commitment of the Rio+10 conference and the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation calling for global fishing subsidy reform.
2. Build on the commitment of the Rio+10 agreement to restore stocks to levels that
can produce the maximum sustainable yield by 2015, by taking actions to control and
reduce global fishing subsidies.
Thank you for your consideration of these comments.
Sincerely,
Michael F. Hirshfield, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist
Oceana
11
FAO. 2005. Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources. Part 1A: Global Production and State of
Marine Fishery Resources