Webinar: Is it the end of the line for fisheries subsidies?
Channel: Earth Journalism Network
Date: 14/07/2021

Fisheries sectors in coastal Africa and across the world are experiencing an unprecedented crisis, driven by intense competition for marine resources. For decades, many governments have provided harmful subsidies to their fishing fleets to bolster their capabilities to increase catch, both domestically and in other countries’ waters, allowing them to drastically increase their capacity and profits. Although these subsidies are often promoted as efforts to help small-scale fishers, they often end up subsidizing overfishing, increasing fishing fleet capacity, and contributing to the unregulated plundering of other countries’ fish stocks.

For the past 20 years, members of the World Trade Organization have been negotiating to reform fisheries subsidies. With these negotiations due to be completed this year, where do African countries, including South Africa and Kenya, stand in these negotiations? With this upcoming reform that could shake the sector, who will be the biggest winners and losers of a new WTO agreement?

Please join this media capacity-building webinar specifically aimed at journalists in Africa and featuring some of the region's experts on the subject. With the WTO negotiations starting on July 15th, this is a good opportunity for interested journalists to get the background required.

Speakers:
• Dr. Rashid Sumaila – Professor, Ocean and Fisheries Economics, University of British Columbia
• Beatrice Gorez - Coordinator, Fair Fisheries Arrangements
• Wanjohi Kabukuru - Experienced Oceans & Fisheries Journalist based in Kenya

Moderator:
• Mona Samari – Co-founder, West Africa Fisheries Journalism Group