As the World Trade Organization gears up to finalize global treaty negotiations on fisheries subsidies, we have selected 14 journalists from across the world to report on the effects of these often-harmful payments and incentives — to report on biodiversity and fish stocks, artisanal fisher livelihoods, food sovereignty and other related topics.
Covering the impact of subsidies has never been more important. Every year, governments around the world spend more than US$22 billion supporting the fishing industry with gear, fuel, operating costs, new construction and other improvements. Those subsidies have allowed vessels to catch more fish than can be naturally regenerated. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that nearly 90% of the world’s marine fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited or depleted.
This project is the second phase of EJN’s fisheries subsidies reporting project, carried out with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts. The first phase focused on India, where grantees produced many in-depth stories investigating possible subsidy reforms, conservation plans, equity issues and more in the coastal regions of the country.
Now, phase two expands the project to other parts of the world impacted by fisheries subsidies, including coastal Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The selected grantees will report on various ways subsidies could be redirected to support more sustainable fisheries management and more equitable policies in coastal regions; whether existing subsidies serve small-scale fishers on the ground; and how capacity-enhancing subsidies affect fish stocks and biodiversity.
List of grantees:
- Aminateh Nkemngu, Cameroon
- Kingsley Nana Buadu, Ghana
- Francesco De Augustinis, Italy
- Justus Wanzala, Kenya
- Bongani Siziba, South Africa
- Geela Garcia, Philippines
- Milagros Salazar, Peru
- Melina Harris, Guyana
- Gladstone Taylor, Jamaica
- Clydeen McDonald, Trinidad and Tobago
- Monika Mandal, India
- Supriya Vohra, India
- Binu Kumar Karunakaran Prasanna, India
- S. V. Krishna Chaitanya, India
Working with our partner in Japan, the Environmental Partnership Council, we expect to award four additional story grants on fisheries subsidies to Japanese journalists as well. Stay tuned to our website and social media to catch these grantees’ stories when they go live.