Negotiators at the WTO are reportedly optimistic about recent advances on talks to curb fisheries subsidies.  While significant differences remain, a new mood is said to surround discussions and the ambassador of one industrialized nation is reported to have said that talks are now focusing on the most harmful of subsidies, rather than subsidies in general. The Doha Round of trade talks began in 2001, but have been marked by stalled negotiations and collapsed discussions over much of the last nine years, making the recent optimism of negotiators seem even more promising.

The Fisheries Economics Research Unit has…

Members of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit recently had the pleasure of presenting a summary of our work on the Global Ocean Economics Project to a packed room at the 2010 meeting of the International Institute for Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET). It was great to see a so many people interested in our work, but sad to see that our crowd outgrew the room quickly and some who came late weren’t able to partake in the discussion.

The special session, titled “Global fisheries contribution to national economies: Management and policy options for…

The Fisheries Economics Research Unit has been working hard to prepare a chapter for the upcoming Green Economy Report, which is part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Green Economy Initiative. For our contribution to the Report, which is to organize and prepare the fisheries chapter,  we have been in collaboration with more than 50 authors and contributors. The report seeks to demonstrate how ‘green’ investment in various sectors of the economy can be positive contributors to economic growth and employment as well as meeting environmental sustainability goals.

Recently some results stemming…

Ahmed Khan, a graduate of UBC’s Fisheries Economics Research Unit now studying at Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada says that Governance may be an influential factor to consider when it comes to seafood supply. This comes from a recent article in Science magazine’s policy forum titled Sustainability and Global Seafood which appeared in the February 12, 2010 issue.

Photo by Grace Ong

Ahmed is one of several authors on the paper who collaborated to draw attention to some of the current issues in world fisheries. A recent article in

Dr. Sumaila appears in a video with several notable celebrities including Leonardo Dicaprio and Prince Charles. In this video concerning the health of the earth’s oceans and climate change Dr. Sumaila says:

Scientists have predicted: every second breath of humans depends on the oceans. So the oceans are central to our livelihoods and our survival on the planet.

For more information about this video with transcription, see the full post at sumprememastertv.com.

A new World Bank study, authored with contributions by Rashid Sumaila and William Cheung, predicts that the global fisheries sector is likely to lose an estimated $US 9.64 billion in revenues in the year 2050 due to climate change. A draft version of the full report, available here, explains that under one possible climate change and fisheries management scenario, developed countries could expect to lose US$ 2.64 billion per year while the effect on developing countries could be as high as US$ 7 billion.

Photo by Jason Dunn.…