Sustainable fishing: Reducing fishing capacity

The catching capacity of the world's fishing fleets needs to be reduced before fishing can be sustainable.

WWF is therefore pressuring governments to reduce the number of commercial fishing boats to a level that marine ecosystems can sustain.

We are also pushing governments and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to eliminate harmful fishing subsidies which contribute to excess fishing capacity, overfishing, and illegal fishing activities. We are recommending that the money instead be redirected to fleet capacity reduction, the development of fish stock recovery plans, fish stock assessments, and where necessary the training of fishers for alternative employment.

Examples of our work include:

• Ending harmful EU subsidies: Thanks in part to WWF's 2002 Stop Overfishing Campaign, the EU has stopped providing subsidies for building new boats. Public funding for the permanent transfer of EU vessels to third countries has also been stopped. Funds saved on boat building will be made available for social measures such as retraining fishermen for alternative employment and compensation for fishing restrictions imposed under recovery plans. Conditions for the payment of subsidies for modernizing old boats (i.e., increasing their fishing capacity) have also become much stricter.
  
• Ending harmful WTO subsidies:  In 2001, WWF was instrumental in making the WTO agree to include fishing subsidies reform in the trade negotiating mandate, and in 2005 WTO members committed to draft rules to phase out subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.  As part of our input into the negotiations, we have developed detailed proposals on, for example, how to balance subsidy reform with provision of legitimate financial subsidies that conserve marine resources. Find out more...
  
• Reducing EU fleet size: Our Stop Overfishing Campaign also led to a new approach by the EU to reduce the over-capacity of its fleet. New maximum fleet capacity levels have been set for each EU member state, which will be reduced as public funding is used to decommission boats. Financial incentives are also being provided for voluntary boat scrapping. However, this reduction in fishing capacity may fall short of that necessary for sustainable fisheries management as it depends on EU member states agreeing to reduce their fishing effort as stipulated in new fisheries recovery plans. We are working to ensure that these recovery plans are indeed put in place.