Jurisdictional Initiatives Can Catalyze Holistic Fisheries Improvement

Abstract

Overfishing is a significant threat to ocean ecosystems, particularly to global fish populations and to the millions of human livelihoods that depend on them. Policy- and market-based schemes are among the main solutions that have been deployed to combat unsustainable fishing. While both approaches have proved effective at transitioning certain fisheries toward improved sustainability, there is a critical need to accelerate and scale the current improvement efforts. To date, these two approaches have mostly been siloed, and they have not always addressed the critical systemic issues that affect the long-term sustainability of fisheries, such as harmful fishing subsidies. Jurisdictional initiatives are a promising new approach that may help to accelerate the adoption of fishery reforms by linking policy-and market-based strategies to drive holistic fisheries improvements.

Keywords: commercial fishing, fisheries management, World Trade Organization, subsidies, overfishing, environmental sustainability

JEL Classification: F18, O13, Q00, Q22, Q27, Q28, Q50, Q58