WTO fisheries subsidies debate: issues and strategies for India

Abstract

The nexus between fisheries subsidies, overcapacity and overfishing dominates the WTO negotiations related to fisheries. The Doha declaration of WTO in 2001 stressed the need for clarifying and improving fisheries subsidies disciplines and since then, some serious attempts are being made to arrive at some form of consensus among the WTO Members. Reliable estimates suggest that many developed and developing countries heavily subsidise their fishing fleets. India being one of the largest maritime states have sooner than later take a position on the question of fisheries subsidies. In this dissertation, an attempt is made to provide a framework for India s negotiating position on fisheries subsidies in WTO. The methodology involved extensive survey of literature and collection of secondary data and interviews with various experts on the subject. The submissions made by Member countries in WTO are also reviewed. The Research questions included the following: (1) What is the level of exploitation of commercially important fish species/ species groups in Indian fisheries? (2) What are the subsidies provided to the Indian fisheries industry (3) What safeguards can be worked out within the WTO framework to protect the livelihood security of the traditional fishing communities? (4)What are the challenges faced by our marine products export industry and how best can it adapt to the globalised world? (5) What management measures and policy interventions can supplement/complement the global efforts to move towards responsible fisheries? The findings include the following: (1) Many of our commercially important fish species do not appear to be as overfished as they are projected to be; (2) Subsidies provided to Indian Fisheries is very negligible; (3) It is possible to safeguard the interests of our fishers within the WTO framework; Several management and policy measures are suggested to equip our fisheries industry to face global challenges and also to strengthen our negotiating position in WTO.