India not to accept any curbs on activities of its fishermen

India will not accept any multilateral curb on the activities of its nine million fisherman families, and may discuss the issue of overfishing at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) next month only if developed nations take responsibility for damaging the global fisheries wealth and agree to withdraw all subsidies on distant deep-water fishing for 25 years, three people aware of the matter said.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

India's point is that the challenge to sustainability has become an issue because of advanced fishing nations such as the European Union, the US and Japan have been giving huge subsidies to a comparatively small number of fishermen for years, However, for India fishing is an activity for subsistence for millions of poor, the people said.

The 13th ministerial conference (MC13) of WTO is scheduled to be held from February 26 to 29 in Abu Dhabi.

MC is the highest decision-making body of the 164-member WTO.

"While developed countries give as high as $75,000 to one fisherman family, India gives barely $15 in a year to its fisher family unit," one of the people said, asking not to be named.