$100m bonus for fishing

By IRENE CHAPPLE

A European Union proposal to cut some fishing subsidies has given hope to the New Zealand industry, which says it could earn an extra $100 million a year if the global protections were dumped.

New Zealand's Seafood Industry Council (SEAFIC) has lobbied for the removal of tariffs and subsidies which it says are unfair and lead to the over-exploitation of fisheries.

Its general manager, trade and information, Alastair Macfarlane, said the news some subsidies might be removed was good but more change was needed.

The European Union's proposal, tabled to the World Trade Organisation, said "capacity enhancing" subsidies should be prohibited, such as those for constructions of vessels and those that encourage joint ventures for fishing in other jurisdictions.

However, other subsidies under the proposal would remain, including subsidies for the retraining of fishermen and for the modernisation of fishing vessels to improve safety and product quality.

Macfarlane said such areas should not be subsidised, particularly if retraining the fishermen meant they were then also able to farm fish.

Macfarlane said the New Zealand industry wanted "all the subsidies that distort trade to be removed".

The removal of subsidies would be likely to make fish more expensive, and New Zealand could then increase its prices.

If the EU adopted the proposals, Macfarlane hoped it would pressure countries such as Korea and Japan to also consider dropping protections.

That would open the market for fish including squid, currently underfished because it is uneconomic.

Macfarlane said it has been estimated to be worth between $120 million to $140 million a year if it was fully fished. Currently it is worth $50 to $60 million.

Global fishing subsidies, according to an OECD study four years ago, are worth almost US$6 billion annually, with Japan's worth US$2.5 billion and Korea's worth US$.4 billion.

Macfarlane would "most likely" be going to Cancun, Mexico, in September where talks on the issue were continuing as part of the World Trade Organisation's Doha round.