Exploración de los Posibles Impactos de las Reglas de la OMC Sobre Subsidios a la Pesca: El Caso del Camarón en la Costa Oeste de América Latina

The report assesses how proposed WTO disciplines on subsidies—specifically those targeting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, overexploited stocks, and overcapacity—would affect shrimp fisheries in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador. It finds that many shrimp populations in the region are overexploited and that fuel subsidies significantly support the profitability of industrial fleets. The authors argue that reforming these harmful subsidies and redirecting funds toward beneficial management programs could improve ecological sustainability and economic efficiency without necessarily reducing total catches, given the current state of overcapitalization.

• Shrimp fisheries in the Eastern Tropical Pacific are characterized by widespread overexploitation, with many populations falling below sustainable levels due to historical and current overfishing and excessive fishing capacity.
• Fuel subsidies are the most common and significant form of support in the region, often accounting for 20% to 50% of the income for shrimp fisheries.
• Industrial fleets in Mexico and Nicaragua rely heavily on subsidies for operational profitability; in Mexico, subsidies may determine whether a vessel is profitable, while in Nicaragua, industrial vessels often operate at a loss at the vessel level, recovering profits through vertical integration in processing and export.
• Bycatch is a critical issue in the region's shrimp trawls, representing approximately 80% of the total catch, with 70% of that bycatch being discarded at sea.
• The impact of WTO rules prohibiting subsidies for IUU fishing would depend on the ability of national governments to identify and sanction their own domestic fleets, as there is little evidence of foreign vessels fishing shrimp in the region's Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
• Prohibiting subsidies for overexploited stocks would have a broad impact because most target shrimp species in the region are overexploited, and the effect would be even greater if the rule included overexploited or unassessed bycatch species.
• Reducing fuel subsidies for industrial fleets could decrease fishing effort without reducing total catches due to existing overcapitalization, potentially increasing the profitability of the remaining fleet and benefiting artisanal fishers by reducing industrial bycatch.
• Successful population recoveries have been observed in Mexico, Nicaragua, and Ecuador following reductions in fishing effort and, in some cases, the decrease of fuel subsidies.
• The report recommends redirecting harmful capacity-increasing subsidies toward beneficial programs, such as those supporting co-management, monitoring, and the implementation of existing management measures.

APA

Cisneros-Montemayor, A. M., & Clarke, T. M. (2019). Exploración de los Posibles Impactos de las Reglas de la OMC Sobre Subsidios a la Pesca: El Caso del Camarón en la Costa Oeste de América Latina. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidios-pesca-camaron-america-latina-es.pdf

Chicago

Cisneros-Montemayor, Andrés M., and Tayler M. Clarke. Exploración de los Posibles Impactos de las Reglas de la OMC Sobre Subsidios a la Pesca: El Caso del Camarón en la Costa Oeste de América Latina. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidios-pesca-camaron-america-latina-es.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cisneros-Montemayor |first1=Andrés M. |last2=Clarke |first2=Tayler M. |title=Exploración de los Posibles Impactos de las Reglas de la OMC Sobre Subsidios a la Pesca: El Caso del Camarón en la Costa Oeste de América Latina |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=December 2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidios-pesca-camaron-america-latina-es.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cisnerosmontemayor2019exploracin, author = {Cisneros-Montemayor, Andrés M. and Clarke, Tayler M.}, title = {{Exploración de los Posibles Impactos de las Reglas de la OMC Sobre Subsidios a la Pesca: El Caso del Camarón en la Costa Oeste de América Latina}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/subsidios-pesca-camaron-america-latina-es.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }