WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 14, 2010 – Ted Danson, award-winning actor, longtime ocean advocate and Oceana board member, testified today before the Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness of the Senate Committee on Finance. In the hearing entitled Marine Wealth: Promoting Conservation and Advancing American Exports, Danson described how government subsidies negatively impact the oceans and global seafood market as well as explained why sustainable fishing is necessary to preserve ocean health and jobs.
“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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