- On 15th September 2025, two-thirds of the WTO members submitted their documents of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, leading to the Agreement entering into force for such members.
- The Agreement is the first multilateral agreement to focus on environmental sustainability and global governance.
- In 2022, a partial agreement was adopted which prohibited subsidies that contribute towards Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. The remaining Agreement, which prohibits subsidies regarding Overfished Stocks, is yet to be adopted. However, if the two agreements are not adopted by 2029, the entire Agreement shall stand terminated.
- India has taken a position that the Agreement does not balance the interests of developing countries, which have historically not contributed to over-exploitation. India also maintains that it has provided extremely low fishing subsidies in contrast to other members.
- Accordingly, India has refused to ratify the Agreement, and instead sought that the WTO members that have provided huge subsidies and engaged in large-scale fishing in the past undertake more obligations, based on the 'polluter pays principle'.
On 15th September 2025, the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies ("the Agreement") entered into force for members who ratified the Agreement, after two-thirds of the WTO members submitted their instruments of acceptance. Aimed at curbing harmful subsidies that deplete the marine fish stocks, it is the first multilateral agreement to focus on environmental sustainability and global governance. The Agreement also provides for a Fish Fund to assist developing and least-developed country (LDCs) members that have submitted their instrument of acceptance. Most of the major exporters of the world including China, Norway, Vietnam, Chile, Ecuador, the USA, Russia, European Union, South Korea, and Japan have ratified the Agreement. However, India, Thailand, and Indonesia have not yet ratified the Agreement, despite being some of the larger fish exporters.
Background of the Agreement
As per the Food and Agriculture Organization, over the last five decades, the share of overfishing of global fish stocks has been increasing. As of 2021, about one-third of the global fish stocks have been overfished. In this backdrop, negotiation on fisheries subsidies began in 2001 among WTO members. Thereafter, in 2015, a dedicated target for prohibition of harmful fisheries subsidies was included under the Goal 14.6 Life Below Water of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2022, a partial agreement was adopted at the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) (Fish 1 Agreement) which prohibited subsidies that contribute towards Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. The remaining portion of the Agreement which prohibits subsidies regarding Overfished Stocks (Fish 2 Agreement) is yet to be adopted. Fish 1 Agreement was adopted with a caveat that unless all comprehensive disciplines and that Fish 2 Agreement are not adopted within four years from the Agreement coming into force, the Agreement shall stand terminated unless decided by the General Council. Thus, WTO members have time till September 2029 to adopt the full agreement.
Salient features of the Agreement
The Agreement is aimed at prohibiting subsidies provided by WTO members which are related fishing or fishing related activities. The definition of subsidy under the Agreement has been directly derived from Article 1.1 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). Accordingly, financial contributions or price support by a government body which confers a benefit specific to marine wild capture fishing and fishing related activities at sea constitutes a subsidy under the Agreement. However, subsidies provided with respect to aquaculture and inland fisheries are excluded from the scope of this Agreement as the primary focus of the agreement is to curb the exploitation of marine fish stocks.
The subsidies are further categorised into three types – (a) subsidies contributing to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (Article 3), (b) subsidies regarding overfished stocks (Article 4), and (c) other subsidies (Article 5).
As per Article 3, subsidies contributing to Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing are prohibited. The Agreement does not explicitly define what constitutes Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing and derives the same from International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing adopted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2001. Illegal fishing refers to fishing by a vessel in the waters under the jurisdiction of a State, without the permission of that State. Unreported fishing activities are those activities which are unreported or misreported to a relevant national authority in contravention of laws and regulations of that state. Unregulated fishing refers to activities in the area under application of relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organization conducted by the vessels of state not party to such organization. The subsidy would be prohibited when it is determined that such subsidy contributes to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by a coastal member (member in whose water the activity has been undertaken), a flag State Member (member under whose flag the vessel was sailing) or the relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organization. The prohibition would remain in effect for the duration of the sanction imposed by the authority that made the determination regarding illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Article 4 prohibits subsidies for fishing or related activities targeting overfished stocks. The Agreement considers a fish stock to be overfished if it is recognized as overfished by the coastal Member under whose jurisdiction the fishing is taking place or by a relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organization in areas and for species under its competence, based on best scientific evidence available to it.
Similar to the ASCM, the Agreement provides for a transition period of two years from the date when the agreement enters into force with respect to subsidies provided by developing country members and LDC members under Article 3 and Article 4. However, in contrast to the ASCM, the Agreement expressly recognises provision of transnational or cross-border subsidies. Footnote 3 of the Agreement expressly provides that the subsidy would be attributed to the country conferring it regardless of the flag or registry of the vessel involved or the nationality of the recipient.
India and Fisheries Subsidies
In 2019, India provided fisheries subsidies amounting to USD 316 million, significantly lower than the top seven subsidizing entities, each of which provided over USD 1 billion. Approximately one-third of subsidies from India would fall under the ambit of the Agreement, and a considerable share of these are fuel subsidies under various schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana Sagarmala initiatives. Although fish exports significantly contribute to foreign reserves of India, the majority are frozen shrimps from aquaculture rather than wild capture and therefore lie outside the scope of the Agreement.
India has not ratified the Agreement till date. It has consistently advocated for a fairer agreement which recognizes that developing countries, that have not historically contributed to over-exploitation, require additional time and support for phasing out subsidies. India has maintained its position by claiming that it has provided some of the lowest fisheries subsidies despite such a large population. Further, India maintains that it has not exploited its resources indiscriminately like other advanced fishing nations. Thus, India has claimed that those WTO Members who have provided huge subsidies in the past and engaged in largescale industrial fishing leading to depletion of fish stocks, should take more obligations to prohibit subsidies based on the 'polluter pays principle' and 'common but differentiated responsibilities'.
While the Agreement has come into force at present, it has not yet been ratified by all WTO members, including India. Further, at present only Fish 1 Agreement has been adopted and ratified. Fish 2 Agreement is yet to be adopted. However, if the WTO Members fail to adopt Fish 2 Agreement within the stipulated deadline, Fish 1 Agreement may also lapse. Thus, it is critical that the upcoming agreement balances the interests of the opposing members, which would allow the agreement to be adopted by all members at the earliest, to ensure that the global fish stocks are not further depleted.
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