India to push full EEZ access for poor fisher folk at WTO meet
New Delhi: India has taken a strong stance on the issue of subsidies provided to poor and marginal fishermen. The country is planning to push its demand for the extension of subsidies to poor fishermen up to 200 nautical miles (nm) at the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), to be held from 26 February to 29 February in Abu Dhabi, a senior official said on Wednesday.
MC is the highest decision-making body and it meets once in two years. Issues regarding supportive measures given to fishermen will be discussed during the four days of the MC.
This assumes a huge significance for India that has 25% of the global poor fishermen and the livelihoods of 9 million people is dependent on fishing activities. As part of this, India has proposed that developing countries be allowed to give subsidies to their poor fishermen to catch fish till exclusive economic zones (EEZs) or up to 200 nautical miles from the shore; while rich countries engaged in fishing beyond this zone should stop providing any kind of subsidies for the next 25 years, the official added.
The country is contesting the issue at the global trade platform against the current WTO rules allowing subsidies for the top 20 countries out of 164 nations. Unlike other developed nations following advanced fishing practices, India doesn’t operate huge fishing fleets to exploit the resources indiscriminately.
Besides, subsidies provided to fisher folk in India are one of the lowest, which is to the tune of $15 for every fishing family in a year, but this is not the case with other countries, the official said. The nations that are providing non-specific subsidies include the 27 European Union nations, USA, China, Japan, Norway, and South Korea, given that they are exploiting the
. Read more on livemint.com
