The sunken billions : the economic justification for fisheries reform (English)

Global marine capture fisheries are an underperforming global asset. The sunken billions study shows that the difference between the potential and actual net economic benefits from marine fisheries is in the order of $50 billion per year-equivalent to... See More + Global marine capture fisheries are an underperforming global asset. The sunken billions study shows that the difference between the potential and actual net economic benefits from marine fisheries is in the order of $50 billion per year-equivalent to more than half the value of the global seafood trade. The cumulative economic loss to the global economy over the last three decades is estimated to be in the order of two trillion dollars. In many countries the catching operations are buoyed up by subsidies, so that the global fishery economy to the point of landing (the harvest sub-sector), is in deficit. For over three decades the world's marine fish stocks have come under increasing pressure from fishing, from loss of habitats and from pollution. Illegal fishing and unreported catches undermine fishery science while some subsidies continue to support unsustainable fishing practices. Marine fisheries reform can recapture a substantial proportion of the economic losses. Rather than being a net drain on the global economy, sustainable fisheries can create an economic surplus and be a driver of economic growth, both in the marine economy and other sectors. The estimate of $50 billion is a measure of the foregone economic rents. It is a mean from two models which considered the global marine fishery as a single bio economic unit.  See Less -

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