UK: Isle of Man stops (for now) with subsidies for the purchase of vessels, engines and whinches

Reading the news posted in the website www.fishupdate.com I discovered that the Isle of Man was giving subsidies to its fishermen for capital investments in the fleet. But I also learned that the Isle of Man authorities are stopping, at least for now, with such subsidies.

In the official announcement posted in the Isle of Man Government one can read:

"The Isle of Man is the only country in Northern Europe that continues with vessel grants of this nature, and evidence from the UK, where a similar Scheme was abolished over 20 years ago, indicates that young skippers still manage to progress into the industry."

Did the Isle of Man Government suddenly realise that such subsidies could become prohibited at the WTO? Nevertheless I do not now what would be the consequences of such prohibition on this "country".

Is the Isle of Man member of the WTO because the UK is a member of this organisation? And because the UK is member to the EU, who would be the defendant if litigation would take place against the Isle of Man?

 Here is the link to the article in www.fishupdate.com:

http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/12968/DAFF_Announces_Temporary_Closure_of_Support_Schemes.html

And here the official announcement:

http://www.gov.im/daff/animals/fish/seafishing/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/daff/daffannouncestem.xml&menuid=11570