News |
Fishery subsidy exemptions seen as double-edged |
|
THE PHILIPPINES should be wary of proposals exempting poor countries from cutting their fishery subsidies at the ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) talks if it wants to secure global stocks, international advocacy group Oceana said last week.
Draft deals separately submitted by Japan and Canada, while kind to developing WTO members, could allow emerging economies to overexploit seas shared with Filipino fishermen, the group warned. "The Philippines is sort of in the middle of the debate," Peter Allgeier, Oceana advisor and former United States ambassador to the WTO, told BusinessWorld at the close of two weeks of talks held in line with revived efforts to conclude the multi-issue Doha round. Members agreed back in 2005 that cuts to government funding for fishing would be part of the global trade deal, with nearly 80% of world fish stocks nearly depleted based on Food and Agriculture Organization estimates. Manila has aligned itself with an informal grouping dubbed "Friends of Fish" which argues that subsidies are partly to blame, but has also raised issue over the need to continue supporting its small scale fishermen. Read the complete story from Business World Online.
|
|||
|
|
||
HASTINGS: Time to improve the Endangered Species Act
May 18, 2012 - When the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law in 1973 by President Nixon, he spoke about the importance of preserving “the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” I believe that goal is as important today as it was back then. However, after nearly 40 years, it’s time to take a fresh, honest look at the law and consider whether there are ways it could be improved to do a better job of protecting and recovering species.
