Dirk Zeller highlights the importance of eliminating harmful fisheries subsidies during the 2025 Indian Ocean Forum
Dirk Zeller from the University of Western Australia (UWA) participated in a scientific panel during the Indian Ocean Forum (IOF25) held in Perth, Australia (www.iofperth.org). The panel discussion focused on “promoting sustainable fisheries management across the Indian Ocean”. Professor Zeller spoke about the primary driver of overfishing globally, namely harmful fisheries subsidies and the need for the international community to curtail and eliminate such taxpayer funded initiatives that lead to excessive fishing capacity and hence drive overfishing in most fisheries around the world
Hosted by the French Embassy in Australia and the Minderoo Foundation, the IOF25 event brought together leaders, scientists, and policymakers over two days to support and drive action on ocean conservation and sustainable management. The event was part of preparations for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), set to take place in Nice, France, between 9-13 June 2025.
A high-level event, the 2025 UNOC is focused on supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 "Life Below Water," which aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources.
More information about the upcoming UN Ocean Conference is available on the United Nations website: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/ocean2025
For background information on fisheries subsidies in the Indian Ocean, see:
Andreoli et al. (2023) Fisheries subsidies exacerbate inequities in accessing seafood nutrients in the Indian Ocean. npj Ocean Sustainability 2: 23. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-023-00031-9
For wider background on harmful subsidies, see:
Skerritt et al. (2023) Mapping the unjust global distribution of harmful fisheries subsidies. Marine Policy 152: 105611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105611
Sumaila et al. (2024) WTO must complete an ambitious fisheries subsidies agreement. npj Ocean Sustainability 3(1): 6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-024-00042-0
For the current WTO efforts to ban harmful subsidies for a subset of fisheries, see:
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/rulesneg_e/fish_e/fish_e.htm