WTO strikes deal to curb harmful fishing subsidies; what’s next?
After more than two decades of negotiations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) forged a historic deal to curb subsidies in the fisheries sector that are feared to cause depletion of seafood stocks.
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is the Geneva-based intergovernmental organization’s first multilateral deal that places environmental sustainability at its core. It prohibits the worst forms of harmful fisheries subsidies that support illegal fishing activities and overexploitation of stocks.
The agreement prohibits the most environmentally damaging subsidies linked to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, as well as overfishing and fishing in unregulated high seas. It also mandates member countries to take “special care” and exercise “due restraint” when granting subsidies to fishing or fishing-related activities wherein the status of stocks is unknown.
“In summary, these prohibitions are structured to enhance the sustainability of fishing practices, particularly in regions where fishing is economically significant and ecologically sensitive, like the Pacific Islands,” WTO Deputy Director-General Jennifer Nordquist says.
“By addressing these issues, the agreement on fisheries subsidies seeks to foster responsible fishing practices and ensure long-term viability for the fisheries sector in these nations,” Nordquist adds.
According to the WTO, the agreement will protect more than 260 million people on the planet who depend on fishing livelihoods, while supporting the sustainable use of shared oceans.
To date, 119 WTO member countries have accepted the agreement, including the Philippines, which gave its commitment in 2024.
Nordquist says the accord is crucial to countries such as the Philippines, where the fisheries sector is an important component of the national economy.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector contributed 7.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2025, a slight decrease from 8 percent a year ago.
The government believes that the landmark agreement can promote fairer competition in the global fisheries sector while helping to rebuild fish stocks.
Agriculture Undersecretary Asis Perez says that even without the WTO agreement, the Philippine fisheries sector can compete in the global market, as local fishing fleets operate independently. The government also provides limited subsidies, mostly in times of crisis.
Although existing laws and regulations steeply penalize any form of illegal fishing, Perez says the accord will ultimately benefit local fisherfolk, as this will ensure a level playing field among industry players.
“If subsidies are continuously done by other countries, then it makes our fleet not as competitive as they are. Without subsidies, we can compete. Others cannot. What it indicates to us is that our fishing sector is very strong because we can compete, we can match, we can grow without subsidy,” Perez tells the Inquirer in an interview.
“Especially for tuna and other pelagic species, fish do not recognize jurisdiction. They simply keep moving around. For that reason alone, any fishing activity in the ocean, especially done by those that are heavily subsidized, competes directly with those that are not being subsidized … and contributes to the deterioration of the stock,” says Perez.
Perez facilitated discussion on the agreement during the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in March.
Tuna remains the Philippines’ leading export commodity in the fisheries sector. It was valued at $441.64 million last year, down 14.2 percent from the level in 2024, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
In terms of volume, the country’s tuna exports declined by 10.9 percent to 121,862.37 metric tons in 2025.
Not the ultimate solution?
Critics, however, argue that the historic fisheries deal does little to address the challenges faced by small-scale or traditional fisherfolk in the Philippines, who already receive minimal government support amid rising fuel prices.
Terence Repelente, international network officer of fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas, says that the WTO agreement won’t resolve the fundamental problem of overfishing and overcapacity.
“It risks stripping the already minimal support for traditional fisher peoples while enabling those who can survive without subsidies—large industrial fleets—to further dominate our waters,” says Repelente, a member of the World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP).
Repelente points out that the WTO has no business in tackling issues related to fisheries. He says the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, particularly its Committee on Fisheries, should handle such matters instead.
“We believe (there) we would have at least the space to engage—unlike in the WTO, where the voices of traditional and small-scale fishers are completely excluded,” Repelente says in a Viber message to the Inquirer.
Global scale
Beyond the Philippines, the WTO says the deal will reverse the long-term decline of the world’s fish stocks.
Data from the FAO show that 35.5 percent of global stocks were overfished in 2021, a substantial increase from only 10 percent in 1974.
Government subsidies to marine fishing activities amounted to $35 billion annually globally. Of these, about $22 million is considered harmful. Meanwhile, total economic losses from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing are estimated at $50 billion.
The WTO says that following MC14, the next agenda is to craft recommendations for comprehensive discipline on fisheries subsidies, representing the second phase of the agreement.
Under Article 12 of the WTO agreement, comprehensive discipline must be adopted within four years or the accord will lapse.
Perez says the challenge is setting the parameters in terms of overcapacity, which the WTO defines as “the ability of a fleet to fish at levels [that] exceed the sustainable catch level in a fishery.”
“But how to measure that is a different story,” the agriculture official says.
As for fisher groups, Repelente laments that WTO has failed to reach a clear resolution on phase two during the Cameroon meeting.
As such, he says the WFFP will continuously oppose the implementation of the deal, particularly in countries where small-scale or traditional fisherfolk will be severely affected.
