WTO Agreement: Blocking Subsidy to Indian Fishermen to Affect Millions of Fishers

According to sources, the Government Subsidy provided to Indian Fishermen enables the community to engage in fishing activities to support their livelihood, and prohibiting such measures through a WTO agreement will ultimately affect millions of fishers and their families, leading to poverty. Under the proposed Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, developed members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pushing to eliminate subsidies.

India is not a major provider of fishery subsidies, in contrast to China, the European Union (EU), and the United States, which provide annual fishery subsidies totaling USD 7.3 billion, USD 3.8 billion, and USD 3.4 billion, respectively. In 2018, India provided only USD 277 million to small fishers.

The total marine fisherfolk population is 3.77 million, with 0.90 million families, according to the CMFRI (Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute) Census 2016. Almost 67.3 percent of the fishermen families fell into the BPL category.

"Stoppage of subsidy assistance to fishers in India will ultimately affect millions of fishers and their families and will lead to poverty," one of the sources said.

There are approximately 2 lakh fishing boats, with only 59,000 (37%) being mechanised. The estimated fisheries potential is approximately 4.4 million tonnes, with marine capture production in 2019 totaling 3.8 million tonnes.