Subsidies and their Implications on Fisheries Management in St. Lucia

Abstract

Worldwide, fisheries subsidies contribute to fleet overcapacity, to overfishing, and to the decimation of the marine environment. Despite the fact that small-scale fisheries catch roughly the same amount of edible fish while causing less overall environmental damage, government preference for subsidy allotment continues to be in favour of industrial fisheries. St. Lucia is a Caribbean island which is recognized as a small vulnerable economy that relies heavily on its small-scale fisheries for economic and social development. The island nation has become largely dependent on foreign subsidies towards its fishery sector, with the majority of the subsidies designated to capacity enhancing programs, which lead to resource overexploitation. This report discusses the importance of directing subsidies away from programs that negatively impact the fishery and moving subsidies towards beneficial programs, with a focus on the development and implementation of effective fisheries management systems for St. Lucia.