Dr Mitchell Lennan and Dr Stephanie Switzer (Reader in Law at the University of Strathclyde) presented a draft paper together at an interdisciplinary workshop entitled “Innovating for Change in Global Fisheries Governance” hosted by the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea at the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø between 14–15 September 2023.
The title of the paper was “The World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies as an Instrument for Innovation in International Fisheries Law”. It explores the extent to which the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in June 2022, can bring about innovation in international fisheries governance via the protection of global fish stocks and the marine environment from the impacts from the most pernicious forms of fisheries subsidies. The paper used three metrics to assess the capacity of the Agreement to bring about such innovation. These were the extent to which it is enforceable, covers the forms of subsidies which are most destructive to the marine environment, and is mutually supportive with existing legal and policy instruments in international fisheries governance. Dr Switzer and Lennan intend to publish their paper as an article in a special issue of Marine Policy based on the proceedings of the Workshop.
The paper builds on work that both authors have conducted under the UKRI GCRF One Ocean Hub, including a landmark publication on the Agreement published in the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law which has been downloaded over 2500 times since its publication in January 2023. In addition, the authors have also been invited to present at an International Conference entitled "The Presence of International Organizations in the Evolution of the International Law of the Sea: Thirty Years since the Entry into Force of UNCLOS" to be held on site at the Faculty of Law in A Coruña, Spain in February 2024.
Dr Lennan is grateful to the Law School’s Research Committee for funding this trip.