THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has remained firm in its stand that the World Trade Organization (WTO) deal on eliminating harmful fisheries subsidies is a step in the right direction amid concerns from certain quarters.
Nonetheless, the BFAR vowed to closely monitor developments at the multilateral body to ensure that local artisanal fisherfolk may be able to avail themselves of mechanisms that would allow certain subsidies, such as fuel, to flow to their sector.
“We will see how the deal would affect small fishermen. But the subsidies agreement, in my personal view, [is good] since it targets subsidies that commit illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF),” BFAR OIC-Director Demosthenes Escoto told reporters in a recent interview.
“If fishing is targeting an overfished stock, there should not be subsidies at all,” Escoto added.
Escoto pointed out that there will be “more critical engagement” between the governments and the WTO regarding the implementation of the fisheries subsidies agreement.
Escoto assured municipal and artisanal fisherfolk that the national government will participate in the future negotiations of the agreement, especially on critical issues affecting them.
He was reacting to a joint statement issued by non-government organizations last month that small fisherfolk are at the losing end of the WTO’s fisheries subsidies agreement since they will lose much needed subsidies from the government.
The groups led by Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said they recognize that overfishing is indeed threatening the livelihood of small fisherfolk and marine and aquatic resources.
However, Pamalakaya claimed that “eliminating subsidies for commercial fishing fleets will not deter their large-scale and destructive fishing practices.”
“The measure to cut fishing subsidies fails to identify who are the real culprits behind the exploitation and exhaustion of the world’s seas and oceans,” Pamalakaya National Chairperson Fernando Hicap said.
“WTO’s measure to cut fishing subsidies will be highly detrimental to small fisherfolk who direly need concrete government support especially in the midst of the global inflation and its consequent economic crises. The fishing subsidies should be properly disbursed to small fishers who are never engaged in any destructive fishing practices, and in order to boost their productivity for food security,” Hicap added.
The group proposed that the national government provide P15,000 worth of subsidy, which is equivalent to a small fisherman’s two-month fuel consumption, to more than a million registered fisherfolk nationwide to help them cope with expensive fuel prices.
The country’s trade negotiators earlier announced that the agriculture sector, including fishermen, stands to benefit from the slew of multilateral accords approved by the WTO that involve the curbing of harmful fisheries subsidies. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/06/17/phl-agri-seen-to-gain-from-wto-deals-on-harmful-subsidies-food-export-curbs/)
Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the Philippines benefits from a provision of the fisheries deal that allows countries to provide support to their fishermen affected during times of disasters.
Rodolfo said the Philippines was also able to secure government capability to support fishermen, including artisanal fisheries, within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone with a reference to International Law of the Sea.
Earlier, the Philippines expressed support for creating a WTO fund that would support developing countries’ capacity to implement the agreement on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/06/15/phl-backs-wto-fund-for-fisheries-subsidies/)
Image credits: Viacheslav Dubrovin | Dreamstime.com