Trade in Fishing Services

Almost one half of the EEZs of the world are subject to so-called foreign fishing arrangements (FFAs), in which foreign fishing states (distant water fishing states in particular) gain access to EEZs under access arrangements with the relevant coastal states. The FFAs may take the form of “fee fishing” arrangements, joint ventures or charter arrangements. The World Bank undertook a project on FFAs, with particular reference to developing coastal states and launched the resultant project report in December 2014. The report includes a set of case studies, an important one of which is focused on the Bering Sea Pollock fishery. This paper presents an overview of the key findings of the report, including the legal obligations of coastal states concerning FFAs, and the conditions under which the rational coastal state will, or will not, welcome such arrangements. It is argued that coastal states entering into FFAs are properly to be seen as importing harvesting and/or processing and/or marketing services – hence the title of the report: Trade in Fishing Services. Trade in these services, it is argued, constitutes an important, but hitherto largely ignored, component of fisheries international trade. The economics required for the study of FFAs is thus a blend of fisheries economics, international economics, along with principal-agent analysis