Afrique: OMC Accord Subventions Pêche Artisanale Protège le Secteur

• The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies entered into force on September 15, 2025, aiming to prohibit subsidies that contribute to harmful fishing practices, including IUU fishing.
• The agreement includes special and differentiated treatment provisions for developing and least developed countries, offering flexibility for their artisanal fishing sectors.
• A study by CAOPA revealed that African artisanal fishing faces significant pressure from industrial vessel incursions and a lack of subsidies, unlike their industrial counterparts.
• While the agreement presents an opportunity to curb industrial fishing support, African nations face challenges in data collection, monitoring, and financing to fully leverage its benefits.
• Effective implementation requires enhanced national capacities for stock assessment, transparency, and inclusive consideration of all fishing community members, including women processors and inland fishers.

The realization of these potential benefits, however, hinges significantly on the capacity of African nations to mobilize necessary financing and overcome substantial implementation hurdles.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies entered into force on September 15, 2025, marking a significant shift in the global governance of fishery resources. This landmark Accord de l’OMC sur les subventions à la pêche aims to curb practices that contribute to unsustainable fishing by prohibiting subsidies that support illicit, unreported, and unregulated (Pêche illicite non déclarée non réglementée) fishing activities. It also targets subsidies for fishing of overexploited stocks and certain unregulated high seas operations.

For African nations, the implementation of this OMC Accord subventions pêche artisanale Afrique presents both considerable opportunities and challenges. The agreement includes provisions for special and differentiated treatment (Traitement spécial différencié OMC pêche) tailored for developing and least developed countries, offering flexibility to support their artisanal fishing sectors. Stakeholders, including those gathered at a recent Mbour webinar, emphasize the importance of leveraging this new instrument to genuinely protect local fishing communities.

Artisanal fishing plays a critical role across Africa, providing food security, employment, and income for millions of people. Women, in particular, are integral to the value chain, especially in the processing and commercialization of fish products. Despite its importance, this sector faces intense pressure, as highlighted by a comprehensive continental study conducted by the Confédération africaine des organisations de pêche artisanale (CAOPA pêche artisanale Afrique), with support from DNS Consulting, the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The study's findings reveal significant difficulties, including frequent incursions by industrial vessels into areas designated for artisanal fishing. This exacerbates pressure on already fragile marine resources and diminishes the operational scope for local communities. Furthermore, the issue of subsidies creates an uneven playing field; approximately 70% of the artisanal organizations surveyed reported that their members receive no fuel subsidies, while industrial fleets, often competing directly with artisanal fishers, benefit from various support mechanisms, underscoring the disparity in Subventions pêche industrielle Afrique.

Dr. Hamady Diop, presenting the study's results, views the WTO Agreement as a crucial opportunity for African artisanal fishing, albeit one that requires careful management to secure its benefits. The new disciplines could significantly reduce the support structures that currently favor industrial and distant-water fishing operations within African waters. This, in turn, could create space for states to redirect investments towards essential areas such as fisheries monitoring, maritime safety, post-capture infrastructure, and initiatives that bolster the livelihoods of fishing communities.

The realization of these potential benefits, however, hinges significantly on the capacity of African nations to mobilize necessary financing and overcome substantial implementation hurdles. Many countries currently suffer from insufficient capacities for stock assessment, meaning a lack of reliable scientific data that limits their ability to make informed decisions and fully utilize the agreement's flexibilities. National capacities for notification, transparency, and monitoring are also often limited. Additionally, the study noted that certain key actors, such as women processors and inland fishers, are often insufficiently considered in policy and planning, posing further challenges to effective Gouvernance ressources halieutiqes Afrique.

Lawyers advising African governments or fishing industry clients should prepare for the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement's entry into force in September 2025, particularly regarding compliance with new subsidy rules, potential enforcement against INN fishing, and the need for enhanced national capacity in monitoring and data collection to fully benefit from the agreement's provisions.

Source: Insights from recent industry analysis.