OECD Review of Fisheries 2025

Greater investment in regular data collection and stock assessments that factor in the impacts of climate change would help improve sustainability and productivity, providing a reliable basis upon which to manage fishing. This would require investment in research and development to refine existing stock assessment methodologies and develop new assessments for hard-to-assess stocks.

Increasing ocean temperatures, changes in currents and more frequent extreme weather events are having significant impacts on wild fish stocks. Policy-makers must explicitly consider adaptation in fisheries management policy at domestic and international levels, as early interventions can be crucial in averting more pronounced later impacts.

More than USD 10 billion a year goes to support capture fisheries in the 41 countries and territories covered in this report – and during 2020–22, government support came to 10.6% of the value of fish landed, an average of USD 552 per fisher per year. However, as outlined above, 65% of this support presented a risk of encouraging unsustainable fishing, rising to 90% in the 11 assessed non-OECD Members. Greater transparency is needed to monitor the implementation of international commitments for eliminating harmful fisheries subsidies.

Support policies are unambiguously beneficial to fisheries only when they help to ensure fishing is done in a way that safeguards resources and ecosystems. For example, investing in stock assessment, management and enforcement. Conversely, support policies can encourage overfishing and illegal fishing, when policies reduce the costs or increase the benefits of fishing when fishing is not effectively managed. Government should favour support policies that do not present a risk of encouraging overfishing and illegal fishing and make sure to target any support effectively managed fishing only.