How energy taxation can end destructive fishing

How energy taxation can end destructive fishing

The environmental, social and economic imperative for ending fuel subsidies in the fisheries sector

Summary

  1. Fuel subsidies in fisheries artificially lower operating costs and distort the ocean economy, fuelling destructive and uneconomic fishing practices.
  2. Fuel subsidies fuel overfishing, and overfishing fuels climate change and biodiversity loss. Eliminating fuel subsidies would strengthen fish stocks’ resilience to climate change, help restore ecosystems and enhance carbon sequestration.
  3. Fuel subsidies disproportionately benefit larger, polluting and more destructive fishing fleets leaving small-scale low-impact fishers with depleted fishing grounds.
  4. Maintaining fuel subsidies in the fisheries sector is inconsistent with the EU’s internal and international commitments on climate and biodiversity. Fuel subsidies increase carbon emissions and support the destruction of marine ecosystems.
  5. The revision of the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) and the current WTO negotiations on harmful fisheries subsidies is the perfect window of opportunity to eliminate fuel subsidies at both the EU and international levels. The EU must lead by example and steer the WTO negotiations away from fuel subsidies.
  6. Fuel subsidies support the economic marginalisation of small-scale, low-impact fishers. Harmful fisheries subsidies must be repurposed to protect and support their livelihoods, and existing funds and social schemes should be used to ensure a just transition.

PDF: How energy taxation can end destructive fishing

 

Share this article

Don’t Stop Here

More To Explore

Open Letter to Commissioners Hoekstra and Kadis

Open Letter to Commissioners Hoekstra and Kadis

Congratulations on your appointment. Our NGOs BLOOM, ClientEarth, Oceana and Seas At Risk look forward to collaborating with you and supporting your efforts to advance the goals outlined in your mission letters. Together, we work for the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies in fisheries, fair financial and fishing opportunities for coastal, artisanal and small-scale fishing communities, and a shift toward low-impact fishing practices.

Webinar: Capacity Ceilings in EU fisheries – Barrier or Opportunity for Decarbonisation?

Webinar: Capacity Ceilings in EU fisheries – Barrier or Opportunity for Decarbonisation? 

This timely event, ahead of the European Commission Energy Transition Partnership workshops (11-12 December) focusing on small-scale, large-scale, and distant-water fisheries, will bring together experts, policymakers, and both small-scale and large-scale fishers to explore the report’s findings and their implications for decarbonisation in the fisheries sector.