Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Emerging economy subsidies undermining sustainability of global fisheries

Capacity-enhancing fishery subsidies provided by emerging economies are supporting overfishing in the high seas and in the national exclusive economic zones of other states. Action must be taken to avoid detrimental impacts on livelihoods and food security across the Global South — before global fish stocks are depleted.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Sumaila, U. R. et al. Mar. Policy 109, 103695 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. The Sunken Billions Revisited: Progress and Challenges in Global Marine Fisheries (World Bank, 2017).

  3. Schuhbauer, A., Chuenpagdee, R., Cheung, W. W. L., Greer, K. & Sumaila, U. R. Mar. Policy 82, 114–121 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sala, E. et al. Sci. Adv. 4, eaat2504 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tipping, A. Bridges Afr. 6, 13–15 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Fevrier, S. & Dugal, M. Bridges Afr. 5, 4–8 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Belhabib, D., Sumaila, U. R. & Le Billon, P. Mar. Policy 101, 80–92 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. The State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture (FAO, 2016).

  9. Fisheries Subsidies, Sustainable Development and the WTO (UNEP, 2011).

  10. The State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture (FAO, 2020).

  11. Skerritt, D. J. & Sumaila, U. R. Mar. Policy 128, 104507 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kroodsma, D. A. et al. Science 359, 904–908 (2018).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Pauly, D. et al. Fish Fish. 5, 474–488 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gutiérrez, M., Daniels, A., Jobbins, G., Almazor, G. G. & Montenegro, C. China’s Distant-Water Fishing Fleet: Scale, Impact and Governance (Overseas Development Institute, 2020).

  15. Zhang, H. & Wu, F. Glob. Policy 8, 216–226 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. McCauley, D. J. et al. Sci. Adv. 4, eaau2161 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Godfrey, M. China makes concessions on eve of WTO fisheries talks. Seafood Source (12 December 2017).

  18. Jacobs, A. China’s appetite pushes fish stocks to brink. New York Times (30 April 2017).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristen Hopewell.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Food thanks Clara Weinhardt for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hopewell, K., Margulis, M.E. Emerging economy subsidies undermining sustainability of global fisheries. Nat Food 3, 2–3 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00451-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00451-1

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing