Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG)

Adam Wolfenden, Deputy Coordinator of Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), criticized the proposed text for letting large-scale distant water fishing fleets off the hook from cutting their subsidies. He emphasized that such a proposal undermines accountability for global overfishing.

Their concerns were voiced after the first meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

In a statement released today, PANG calls on the Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which came into force in January last year, that they must prioritize and address the impacts of nuclear testing legacies on people and the environment in the Pacific Islands.

After long hours of negotiations, a draft agreement- a truncated version of previous texts, circulated to ministers was accepted and negotiations on the issue will continue after the Ministerial.

In a statement released yesterday, the PANG issued their assessments of the Fisheries text at 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) and highlighting their concerns.

Campaigner Adam Wolfenden said, “Unfortunately, the changes do not address the concerns of the Pacific, the current text of the agreement threatens the ability of island nations to manage their own fish stocks among other things.”

The agreement could unfairly impact fishing industries in the Pacific. The conference started on Sunday 12 June, in Geneva.

Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) Campaigner Adam Wolfenden said from Geneva that the proposed WTO agreement, which targets Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing subsidies has also conveniently failed to address those most responsible for the problem- the bigger countries that have contributed to overfishing and declining global fish stocks.

Talks on interim disciplines for subsidies for illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, as well as overfishing, collapsed in the final hours of negotiations.

This demonstrated the divide between the push by developed powerful fishing nations for strict and ambitious interim prohibitions on subsidies while many developing countries would only accept the most flexible development outcomes.