December 9, 2020 — In the halcyon days of 2015, leaders gathered at the United Nations pledged “bold and transformative steps” to put the planet on a more sustainable path, tasking the World Trade Organization with ending excessive and illegal fishing.
Five years and a global pandemic later, that dream has been deferred yet again.
The Geneva-based trade body, facing a deadline at the end of 2020, looks to come up empty-handed in its quest to preserve the world’s dwindling fish stocks.
A global fisheries deal fell victim to issues ranging from the logistical problems of negotiating amid travel restrictions to a growing distrust among WTO members. It’s a frustrating result not just for protectors of marine life but for defenders of the WTO, denying the organization a win just when its deal-making abilities came under fire.