Fisheries Subsidies at a Crossroads

The policy brief examines the critical juncture facing the World Trade Organization (WTO) ahead of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. While the 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (Fish 1) established a historic first step by prohibiting subsidies for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, it does not address the structural causes of overcapacity. The author argues that the upcoming MC14 must restore momentum for 'Fish 2'—additional disciplines targeting broader overfishing—to avoid the risk of the entire 2022 agreement terminating under its sunset clause by September 2029.

• The 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which entered into force in September 2025, prohibits subsidies in the most harmful cases, including those for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, unregulated fishing on the high seas, and fishing overfished stocks without rebuilding measures.
• Current global fisheries subsidies disproportionately benefit industrial fleets over small-scale operations; of the USD 35.4 billion in subsidies provided in 2018, over 80% went to large-scale industrial fleets, while only 19% went to small-scale fisheries.
• The 2022 Agreement contains a sunset clause that will cause the entire agreement to automatically terminate by September 2029 if comprehensive additional disciplines on fisheries subsidies are not adopted within four years of its entry into force.
• Negotiations for additional disciplines (Fish 2) reached a near-consensus at MC13 in Abu Dhabi in early 2024, but final adoption was blocked by a small number of large players, and political shifts by mid-2025 have made convergence more fragile.

APA

Sarmiento, F. (2026). Fisheries Subsidies at a Crossroads. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fisheries-subsidies-mc14

Chicago

Sarmiento, Florencia. Fisheries Subsidies at a Crossroads. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026. https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fisheries-subsidies-mc14.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sarmiento |first1=Florencia |title=Fisheries Subsidies at a Crossroads |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=18 February 2026 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fisheries-subsidies-mc14 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sarmiento2026fisheries, author = {Sarmiento, Florencia}, title = {{Fisheries Subsidies at a Crossroads}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fisheries-subsidies-mc14}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }