The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies AFS officially enters into force today, marking the first WTO multilateral agreement with environmental sustainability at its core. For Africa, this landmark deal represents a crucial step toward protecting the continent's vast marine resources and the millions of livelihoods that depend on them.
"This agreement is fundamentally about fairness and sustainability," says CEO Nardos Bekele-Thomas. "For too long, harmful fishing subsidies have distorted global markets and depleted the very resources that African communities rely on for food security and economic opportunity. The AFS finally gives us the tools to level the playing field.
Tackling the root of the problemThe agreement establishes three core prohibitions targeting the most destructive fishing subsidies: those supporting illegal, unreported and unregulated IUU fishing fishing of overfished stocks without effective rebuilding measures and unregulated fishing on the high seas beyond national jurisdiction.