Fisheries Subsidies at a Crossroads

As World Trade Organization (WTO) members prepare for the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, they face a pivotal choice: build on the historic 2022 Fisheries Subsidies Agreement by committing to complete the additional disciplines on overcapacity and overfishing—or risk stalling momentum and undermining a landmark environmental deal. With a sunset clause now in effect, the clock is ticking. 

Around the world, fish stocks are under growing pressure. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 38% of assessed marine fish stocks are overfished. Moreover, this is not only an environmental problem. Hundreds of millions of people depend directly or indirectly on fisheries for food security, jobs, and income, particularly in coastal and island developing countries. 

One driver of overfishing is government subsidies. Certain types of fisheries subsidies lower the cost of fishing or increase revenues, encouraging fleets to fish more, travel farther, and stay at sea longer than would otherwise be economically viable. Global estimates suggest that fisheries subsidies amounted to more than USD 35 billion in 2018, with a large share directed toward activities that increase fishing capacity. In simple terms, public money often enables fishing beyond the sustainable limits of the ocean. 

This is why fisheries subsidies have been on the agenda of the WTO for more than two decades, and why the organization now finds itself at a critical moment ahead of MC14 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. 

What Has Already Been Achieved: A historic first step 

After more than 20 years of negotiations, WTO members reached a landmark agreement in 2022. The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at MC12 in Geneva, was the first WTO agreement explicitly aimed at an environmental sustainability objective. It also responded directly to Target 14.6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which calls for the prohibition of harmful fisheries subsidies. 

Crucially, this agreement entered into force in September 2025, following the deposit of instruments of acceptance by two thirds of WTO members. This marked a major milestone for the multilateral trading system. For the first time, binding global trade rules now place clear limits on government support that contribute directly to the depletion of marine resources. 

The 2022 Agreement, often referred to as Fish 1, prohibits subsidies in the most clearly harmful situations. These include subsidies to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, subsidies for fishing overfished stocks when no rebuilding measures are in place, and subsidies for unregulated fishing on the high seas. These rules matter because they target the subsidies where environmental harm is most evident and hardest to justify. 

Importantly, however, the 2022 Agreement did not cover all of the rules members sought. While its entry into force is a major achievement, it was always intended as a first step rather than a comprehensive solution to the problem of overfishing. 

Why Additional Disciplines Are Needed 

Fish 1 addresses the most alarming situations of subsidized fishing, but it does not tackle the broader problem. Subsidies can still cause harm even when fishing is legal, or when stocks are not yet formally assessed as overfished. Most subsidies go to large vessels, giving them an additional advantage over smaller players, many of whom may also be more vulnerable to the effects of overfishing. Estimates indicate that of the USD 35.4 billion in global fisheries subsidies provided in 2018, only 19% went to small-scale fisheries, while more than 80% went to large-scale industrial fleets. 

This is where the idea of additional disciplines, often referred to as Fish 2, comes in. These negotiations aim to discipline subsidies that contribute more generally to overcapacity in fishing fleets and overfishing, not just in specific and alarming situations. The goal is preventive, to stop subsidies from driving fleets beyond sustainable limits in the first place. 

Without these broader rules, the WTO framework risks addressing the symptoms of overfishing rather than its underlying and structural causes. 

How We Got Here: Progress and near misses 

WTO members committed in 2022 to continue negotiations toward a more comprehensive agreement. Talks resumed in 2023 and gradually gained momentum. Over the course of the year, members narrowed differences on many core issues, leading to a consolidated draft text by the end of 2023. 

In the weeks leading up to MC13 in Abu Dhabi in early 2024, compromises emerged on several sensitive points. During the ministerial itself, ministers and facilitators worked intensively, and a diverse group of members attempted last-minute compromises. The result was striking. Members came extremely close to consensus, closer than at any point in the history of these negotiations, yet agreement ultimately proved elusive. 

Since then, the Chair of the negotiations has repeatedly attempted to build on the progress achieved. Revised texts circulated in mid and late 2024 reflected the so-called “landing zone” identified at MC13. Most members signalled readiness to conclude on this basis. However, the absence of consensus among a small number of large players prevented adoption. 

By mid-2025, convergence remained high, but political shifts meant it had become more fragile. Three major members, one developed and two developing, are now calling for more significant changes to the draft text, although for different reasons. 

What to Expect at MC14 

Political shifts and delays in selecting the new Chair mean expectations for MC14 need to be realistic. Toward the end of 2025, members appointed a new Chair of the negotiations, Ambassador Leslie Ramsammy of Guyana, who has begun consulting delegations on possible paths forward. 

It is unlikely that ministers will arrive in Yaoundé with a fully finalized Fish 2 agreement ready for immediate adoption. At the same time, the clock is now running. 

The so-called “sunset clause” contained in the 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies provides that, if comprehensive additional disciplines on fisheries subsidies are not adopted within 4 years of the agreement’s entry into force, the agreement will automatically terminate, unless WTO members decide otherwise. Since the agreement entered into force in September 2025, this means that members have until September 2029 to conclude the additional disciplines or risk losing the entire fisheries subsidies agreement. 

MC14 in 2026 and MC15 in 2028 will be decisive milestones in this process, with MC15 being the last scheduled ministerial conference before the end of this 4-year period. MC14 is a critical opportunity to restore momentum and demonstrate collective determination to finalize the additional disciplines. 

A good outcome at MC14 would involve a strong political signal that members are committed to finishing the job by MC15, grounded in the progress already made. 

Failure to provide a clear pathway forward would severely undermine the credibility of WTO members’ commitments to each other, as well as to a key issue for environmental, social, and economic sustainability. 

The WTO’s fisheries subsidies negotiations were never going to be easy. They sit at the intersection of trade, development, and environmental protection, and they touch on sensitive domestic policy choices. Yet the near-miss at MC13 showed that agreement is possible. 

MC14 offers a chance to demonstrate collective determination to conclude new rules. If members miss it, the window to secure meaningful global rules to curb harmful fisheries subsidies and protect the health of the oceans and the communities that depend on them will narrow further.