“There’s an inextricable link between ocean conservation and global competitiveness,” said Danson. “It’s quite simple – No fish. No fishermen. No future.”

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is currently engaged in a dedicated negotiation on fisheries subsidies as part of the Doha trade round. Yet despite international consensus on the dire state of the oceans, many governments continue to provide major subsidies to their fishing sectors. These subsidies promote overfishing by pushing fleets to fish longer, harder and farther away than would otherwise be economically feasible.

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