The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) new fisheries subsidies agreement has drawn sharp criticism from Pacific civil society groups for failing to address the real culprits of overfishing and ocean degradation, large-scale industrial fleets, while unfairly burdening small-scale and traditional fishers.
Speaking at the 2025 State of the Ocean: Unpacking the Year in Ocean Threats and Successes webinar, Adam Wolfenden, Deputy Coordinator of the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), said the agreement, which took effect in September, falls short of its stated goal to curb harmful subsidies.
“What they basically agreed upon, and has now come into effect, is half an agreement that doesn’t really meet its own mandate,” Wolfenden said. “It treats everyone the same, regardless of their responsibility for the problem.”
The WTO’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS) was intended to prohibit financial support for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and reduce subsidies contributing to overfishing and overcapacity. However, Wolfenden argued that it fails to apply the long-recognised principle of common but differentiated responsibility, a key tenet of international environmental law.
“There’s no distinction between a small-scale fisher who fishes for their livelihood and a large-scale vessel fishing illegally across exclusive economic zones,” he said.
“The inability of the WTO to enact this principle not only undermines its credibility as a sustainability body, but it also weakens other international agreements too.”
Currently, only six Pacific Island countries are WTO members, and of these, only Fiji and Tonga have ratified the agreement. Wolfenden said this reflects a “lack of interest until it deals with the bigger problem around subsidies for overfishing and overcapacity.”
He warned that the agreement could also be used as “leverage” in trade negotiations, citing examples where developing nations were pressured to ratify it in exchange for trade benefits.
“The U.S and Indonesia deal is one example,” he said. “Indonesia was required to ratify this agreement to save itself from U.S tariffs. That’s a serious issue of sovereignty.”
A joint statement issued on 16 September 2025 by global and regional networks and civil society groups, including the World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP), the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fish Workers (WFF), and PANG, echoed these concerns.
The statement said the WTO “failed to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals mandate” and criticised the agreement’s lack of adequate and effective special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing and least-developed countries.
“All countries, including very poor and vulnerable ones, are making the same commitments as those most responsible for overfishing,” the statement said. “This represents a failure to uphold the SDG mandate.”
It further warned that the AFS “makes no distinction between damage caused by large-scale industrial fleets and small-scale fishing,” describing it as an “imbalanced text that leaves small fishers to bear the burden.”
According to the group, the agreement’s administrative requirements, such as proving stock restoration measures to qualify for exemptions, are “burdensome for developing nations” and effectively amount to “reverse special and differential treatment” by rewarding those with greater monitoring capacity.
The statement also revealed mounting coercive pressure on developing countries to ratify the agreement, noting that such tactics “are undemocratic and perpetuate deeply unequal power relations over the oceans.”
Wolfenden warned that the growing use of trade leverage to push environmental agreements risks undermining genuine sustainability efforts.
“We’re entering a stage where the ability to act and take care of the oceans is being undermined even further,” he said.
He added that economic vulnerability in the Pacific continues to shape how countries navigate global agreements, from blue carbon initiatives to debt and security treaties.
“This foundational economic question sits behind so many of these issues, and increasingly, it’s becoming militarised and securitised.”
Despite the celebratory tone surrounding the WTO deal, Wolfenden said Pacific nations must remain cautious.
“There’s a lot of fanfare and congratulatory messages, but beneath that lies pressure and imbalance that we can’t afford to ignore,” he said.
