Kyrgyzstan has taken a stand against the depletion of fish stocks by signing an agreement

Kyrgyzstan has joined global rules against harmful fisheries subsidies. President Sadyr Zhaparov has signed a law ratifying the protocol to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation, which includes an agreement on subsidies in this sector.

Harmful subsidies are public funds that formally support the industry (tax breaks, concessions, etc.), but ultimately do more harm than good by depleting resources, provoking violations and creating market distortions.

The agreement, approved at the WTO Ministerial Conference in June 2022 in Geneva, aims to limit state support that contributes to the depletion of fish stocks. Specifically, this involves a ban on subsidies for those engaged in illegal fishing, on funding catches from stocks that have already been overfished, and on support for unregulated fishing on the high seas. However, the agreement does not apply to aquaculture and allows for the retention of certain support measures provided that established conditions are met, including transitional concessions for developing countries.

For Kyrgyzstan, ratification is largely of a regulatory and reputational nature, though it coincides with a tightening of domestic fisheries policy. In recent years, the country has stepped up its crackdown on illegal fishing, particularly on Lake Issyk-Kul, where criminal cases have been brought against offenders and poaching nets and equipment have been regularly seized.

Against this backdrop, the authorities have announced the start of the new fishing season, accompanied by attempts to regulate the industry and bring some activities out of the informal sector.