Plan Bleu is launching a special “Zoom On” collection dedicated to environmentally harmful subsidies. Eight Policy Papers are currently supported by Plan Bleu and will be published later in 2024. Each paper will be succinctly presented in this series of 2-Pagers.
This second “Zoom On” of this special collection is titled : “ Fishing Subsidies and Their Impacts on Marine Ecosystem Health ”. Fishing subsidies have gained attention due to their environmental impact, with around 60% considered harmful, leading to overfishing and overcapacity globally. Capacity-enhancing subsidies, such as fuel subsidies and tax exemptions, are particularly damaging to marine fishery resources. Fishing subsidies can be “capacity-enhancing”, “beneficial” or “ambiguous” based on their impacts on marine ecosystems and ecological sustainability. Capacity-enhancing subsidies are the most detrimental, as they contribute to overcapacity and overfishing. Plan Bleu has been examining the intricate relationship between fishing subsidies and their impact on marine ecosystems, with a focus on identifying harmful subsidies. Focusing on Türkiye, Plan Bleu finds that capacity-enhancing subsidies, including fuel tax concessions and infrastructure support, have primarily supported industrial fishing, leading to increased vessel/fleet size and over-fishing but not to higher catch rates, despite increasing fishing effort.
We thank the author of the Policy Paper which inspired this Zoom On: Nazlı Demirel, Pınar Ertör-Akyazı et Taner Yıldız, and the principal program coordinatorConstantin Tsakas
Discover the entire zoom on special collection dedicated to environmentally harmful subsidies.
