https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230501112122.htm

"Harmful subsidies often lead to a fishing fleet being able to go out fishing even if [the fishing] isn't profitable," said Anna Schuhbauer, author of the study and postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. "And these vessels can go wherever they want -- they can go to other countries, other economic zones. And so, we were really interested in the impact of these subsidies on the countries where these boats actually fish."

Harmful fisheries subsidies are any direct or indirect financial contribution by a government to a private sector that increases the revenue, or lowers the cost, of fishing. Fuel subsidies, tax exemptions, support for vessel construction, investment in marketing and processing infrastructure -- by altering the economics of fishing in these ways, harmful subsidies can encourage unsustainable fishing capacities that exponentially increase the risk of exploitation.