Conserving Marine Wildlife Through World Trade Law

Part I of this Essay marshals the evidence that fisheries around the world are in peril from destructive fishing practices. Part II argues that most fisheries management regimes are ineffective at counteracting the political pressures and economic incentives that lead to unsustainable fishing. Part III makes the case that government subsidies are major enablers of overfishing. The fourth and final Part discusses the continuing efforts to use international trade regulation to eliminate overfishing subsidies and halt the collapse of the world\u27s marine fish populations

Conserving Marine Wildlife Through World Trade Law

Part I of this Essay marshals the evidence that fisheries around the world are in peril from destructive fishing practices. Part II argues that most fisheries management regimes are ineffective at counteracting the political pressures and economic incentives that lead to unsustainable fishing. Part III makes the case that government subsidies are major enablers of overfishing. The fourth and final Part discusses the continuing efforts to use international trade regulation to eliminate overfishing subsidies and halt the collapse of the world\u27s marine fish populations

Conserving Marine Habitats

While the oceans are mostly out of sight, and therefore mostly out of mind, they make up the majority of our environment. They are a place where industrial food production relies on hunting rather than farming. But industrial food production relies on industrial equipment such as massive bottom trawl nets and scallop dredges that scrape across the seafloor. The use of these destructive tools has been compared to using bulldozers for hunting squirrels in the forest. The resulting impact is comparable to clear-cutting forests — but could be far more devastating. In 1998, scientists estimated that every two years, destructive trawlers sweep an area equivalent to the entire world’s continental shelf. This article examines one route among many leading to the goal of conserving marine habitat: using the statutory mandate directing regional fishery management councils to protect essential fish habitat (“EFH”)

Paths to Fisheries Subsidies Reform: Creating Sustainable Fisheries Through Trade and Economics

The world depends on the oceans for food and livelihood. More than a billion people worldwide depend on fish as a source of protein, including some of the poorest populations on earth. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the world must produce 70 percent more food to meet coming hunger needs.Fishing activities support coastal communities and hundreds of millions of people who depend on fishing for all or part of their income. Of the world's fishers, more than 95 percent engage in small-scale and artisanal activity and catch nearly the same amount of fish for human consumption as the highly capitalized industrial sector. Small-scale and artisanal fishing produces a greater return than industrial operations by unit of input, investment in catch, and number of people employed.Today, overfishing and other destructive fishing practices have severely decreased the world's fish populations. The FAO estimates that 90 percent of marine fisheries worldwide are now overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted, or recovering from overexploitation