The Global Fisheries Subsidies Divide Between Small- and Large-Scale Fisheries

Author:

Schuhbauer A., Skerritt DJ., Ebrahim N., Le Manach F. and Sumaila UR.

Publication Year:

2020

Citation:

Schuhbauer A, Skerritt DJ, Ebrahim N, Le Manach F and Sumaila UR (2020) The Global Fisheries Subsidies Divide Between Small- and Large-Scale Fisheries. Front. Mar. Sci. 7:539214. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.539214

Description:

In 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations stipulated that certain forms of subsidies that the fishing sector receive must be prohibited. However, the global fishing sector is complex and varied, and as such there remains a need for information on the distribution of subsidies between the different regions and their sub-sectors. This bottom-up study therefore provides up-dated and improved analyses of the financial support fishing sub-sectors receive from public entities. Estimates show that of the USD 35.4 billion of global fisheries subsidies provided in 2018, 19% went to the small-scale fishing sub-sector (SSF), including artisanal, and subsistence fisheries. Whilst more than 80% went to the large-scale (industrial) fishing sub-sector (LSF). Analysis by subsidy category and type shows, for example, that the majority of the subsidies that the LSF receive are in the form of capacity-enhancing subsidies (USD 18.3 billion) with fuel subsidies being the highest overall subsidy type (USD 7.2 billion).

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