Yeap... and mostly from your taxes. We worry about the estimated of IUU fishing in the pacific or worldwide, we ask developing countries to put resources and budgets they barely have into controlling DWFN fisheries in their own countries because their flag states can't be bother, while at the same they pump 20 billion USD into subsidies to support overfishing.
fisheries subsidies... a simple yet effective way to go against all the work we stand for
I have always sustained that if we could "kill" fisheries subsidies issues (and getting the licensing transparency area a bit better) the fisheries situation would be so much better, in a Pareto way, I blame 80% of the problems in today's fisheries on those 2 issues... and in particular subsidies. Rich nations spend more in subsidizing fisheries that the estimates losses of revenue from illegal fishing... Yes, the global cost of fisheries subsidies is way greater than the cost of IUU fishing. I wrote about it here.
Obviously, people that are way smarter than me and have better tools than I will ever have, seem to see a similar picture. The UN Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and UN Environmental Program (UNEP) released 2 days ago a joint statement pointing out the astonishing estimated figure of 20 billion USD in capacity-enhancing subsidies that directly contribute to overfishing (out of a estimated 35 billion for all subsidies)
However, the issue of addressing and removing fisheries subsidies has been a complicated and thorny one. The lack of information concerning countries’ activities and comprehension of the magnitude and impact of such support are persistent problems. Another complication is that there are many types of subsidies.
Certain subsidies are associated with development actions focused on developing countries. As such, some subsidies, coupled with development programmes and effective management frameworks, could be instrumental in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). A particular area of concern is the continuation of those subsidies that undermine sustainable development, as noted in the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in 2012.
Failure to address these subsidies will jeopardize the livelihoods of coastal populations, particularly in countries and communities most dependent upon fish production. Or more bluntly... just kill legitimate fishing.