Syed Hussein Al -Qassab
On Sunday, the Shura Council discusses the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and National Security Committee regarding a draft law to approve the amended protocol of the Marrakech Convention to establish the World Trade Organization by adding the agreement on supporting fish fisheries to the Appendix 1 thousand of the agreement.
The committee indicated that the Kingdom of Bahrain pays great attention to marine and fish wealth, which is one of its most important strategic resources and one of its food security pillars, as well as the dependence of a large group of citizens on the fishing profession as an income source.
She added that this protocol, which was adopted during the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in June 2022, is the first agreement for the organization, which focuses on the environment and the sustainability of marine resources, where the subsidies provided to fish fisheries are organized and acknowledges that there are types of subsidies that may negatively affect the sustainability of marine and fish resources .
For its part, the Legislative and Legal Opinion Authority stated, in its note attached to the draft law, that the approval of the Kingdom of Bahrain on the amended protocol of the Marrakech Convention for the Establishment of the World Trade Organization by adding the agreement regarding the support of fish fisheries to the attachment «1» thousand of the agreement comes within the efforts made to achieve the sustainability of the oceans By banning harmful support for fish fisheries.
She emphasized that he is a major factor in exhausting the fish stock in the world, especially since the world suffers from scarcity of biological diversity due to overfishing in many regions, including the high seas.
On the other hand, representatives of the Supreme Council for the Environment pointed out that the World Trade Organization agreement on subsidies provided to fish fisheries is the first agreement that focuses on the environment for this organization, which is the first multi -party agreement and legally obligated on the sustainability of marine resources.
They indicated that the agreement regulates the subsidies provided to fish fisheries, and decides that certain types of subsidies may negatively affect the sustainability of natural marine resources, and that the management of fish fisheries is important to ensure the actual compliance with the rules of the World Trade Organization agreement, especially the prohibition of subsidies provided to fish fisheries associated with the excessive exploited fish balances And illegal hunting that takes place without reporting and without regulation.
Representatives of the Supreme Council for the Environment explained that the national ability to collect, manage and process data and information in order to assess the state of fish fisheries and fish balances and prepare reports on them, is considered one of the decisive issues for the sustainability of the sector, which is extremely important and affects the resources of countries and their financial returns, especially in the shared seas and in the high seas In turn, representatives of the Coast Guard Command indicated that Bahrain is committed to the ends To it the protocol, by not providing support for illegal hunting, as the Coast Guard Command is continuing in cooperation with all relevant authorities in the field of control and audit.
They emphasized that the joining of Bahrain alongside the rest of the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf states enhances cooperation and coordination between the countries of the region, and helps to monitor and control the negative effects of wrong practices in hunting operations.
