WTO urged to spin off fishing pact to protect seas

Marine scientists warned the World Trade Organisation on Tuesday that the world’s seas were in peril and called for a new WTO deal to discourage over-fishing. “The health of the world’s oceans is hanging in the balance,” they said in a letter to WTO chief Pascal Lamy, citing World Bank estimates that $50 billion a year is lost globally to poor fisheries governance and over-exploitation.