Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss
One of the greatest threats to the conservation of transboundary stocks is the failure of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to equitably allocate future fishing opportunities. Across RFMOs, catch history remains the principal criterion for catch allocations, despite being recognize...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Dynamics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2022.1044321/full |
| _version_ | 1811185996856819712 |
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| author | Hussain Sinan Hussain Sinan Ciara Willis Ciara Willis Wilf Swartz Wilf Swartz U. Rashid Sumaila U. Rashid Sumaila Ruth Forsdyke Daniel J. Skerritt Frédéric Le Manach Mathieu Colléter Megan Bailey Megan Bailey |
| author_facet | Hussain Sinan Hussain Sinan Ciara Willis Ciara Willis Wilf Swartz Wilf Swartz U. Rashid Sumaila U. Rashid Sumaila Ruth Forsdyke Daniel J. Skerritt Frédéric Le Manach Mathieu Colléter Megan Bailey Megan Bailey |
| author_sort | Hussain Sinan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | One of the greatest threats to the conservation of transboundary stocks is the failure of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to equitably allocate future fishing opportunities. Across RFMOs, catch history remains the principal criterion for catch allocations, despite being recognized as a critical barrier to governance stability. This paper examines if and how subsidies have driven catch histories, thereby perpetuating the legacy of unfair resource competition between distant water fishing nations (DWFNs) and coastal States, and how this affects ongoing allocation negotiations in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). Using limited publicly available data on subsidies to Indian Ocean tuna fleets, we show that subsidies have inflated catch histories of many DWFN's. As long as historical catch remains the key allocation criterion, future fishing opportunities will continue to be skewed in favor of DWFNs, in turn marginalizing half of the IOTC member States, which collectively account for a paltry 4% of the current catch. Without better transparency in past subsidies data, accounting for this distortion will be difficult. We provide alternative allocation options for consideration, with our analysis showing that re-attributing DWFN catch to the coastal State in whose waters it was caught may begin to alleviate this historical injustice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:39:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a059bd8fcd10419abdb907e021f65d2e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-2726 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:39:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Dynamics |
| spelling | doaj.art-a059bd8fcd10419abdb907e021f65d2e2022-12-22T04:21:21ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Dynamics2673-27262022-12-01410.3389/fhumd.2022.10443211044321Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational lossHussain Sinan0Hussain Sinan1Ciara Willis2Ciara Willis3Wilf Swartz4Wilf Swartz5U. Rashid Sumaila6U. Rashid Sumaila7Ruth Forsdyke8Daniel J. Skerritt9Frédéric Le Manach10Mathieu Colléter11Megan Bailey12Megan Bailey13Marine Affairs Program, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaNippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center, EarthLab, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesMIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering, Cambridge, MA, United StatesBiology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United StatesMarine Affairs Program, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaNippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center, EarthLab, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesInstitute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaSchool of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaDepartment of Economics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaInstitute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaBLOOM, Paris, FranceUMR AGIR, Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse-École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse, Castanet-Tolosan, FranceMarine Affairs Program, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaNippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center, EarthLab, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesOne of the greatest threats to the conservation of transboundary stocks is the failure of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to equitably allocate future fishing opportunities. Across RFMOs, catch history remains the principal criterion for catch allocations, despite being recognized as a critical barrier to governance stability. This paper examines if and how subsidies have driven catch histories, thereby perpetuating the legacy of unfair resource competition between distant water fishing nations (DWFNs) and coastal States, and how this affects ongoing allocation negotiations in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). Using limited publicly available data on subsidies to Indian Ocean tuna fleets, we show that subsidies have inflated catch histories of many DWFN's. As long as historical catch remains the key allocation criterion, future fishing opportunities will continue to be skewed in favor of DWFNs, in turn marginalizing half of the IOTC member States, which collectively account for a paltry 4% of the current catch. Without better transparency in past subsidies data, accounting for this distortion will be difficult. We provide alternative allocation options for consideration, with our analysis showing that re-attributing DWFN catch to the coastal State in whose waters it was caught may begin to alleviate this historical injustice.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2022.1044321/fullallocationcatch historyequityfishing opportunitiesIndian Ocean Tuna Commissionintergenerational equity |
| spellingShingle | Hussain Sinan Hussain Sinan Ciara Willis Ciara Willis Wilf Swartz Wilf Swartz U. Rashid Sumaila U. Rashid Sumaila Ruth Forsdyke Daniel J. Skerritt Frédéric Le Manach Mathieu Colléter Megan Bailey Megan Bailey Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss Frontiers in Human Dynamics allocation catch history equity fishing opportunities Indian Ocean Tuna Commission intergenerational equity |
| title | Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss |
| title_full | Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss |
| title_fullStr | Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss |
| title_full_unstemmed | Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss |
| title_short | Subsidies and allocation: A legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss |
| title_sort | subsidies and allocation a legacy of distortion and intergenerational loss |
| topic | allocation catch history equity fishing opportunities Indian Ocean Tuna Commission intergenerational equity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2022.1044321/full |
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