An overview of marine fisheries management in China

Abstract

Abstract:China is the world's largest country in terms of fish production, yet its fisheries management is comparatively unknown outside the country. This article gives an overview of the current management system and highlights some of its challenges. In the past thirty years, the Department of Fishery Administration has formulated and organized a series of conservation and management regimes and measures. The most important tools are minimum mesh size regulation and a range of input control measures, including seasonal closures and attempts to control fishing capacity through licensing and limiting total engine power. However, fisheries output is only controlled through a nation-wide total catch limit. Certain progress has been achieved, but there are still problems as the resource situation is poor. While the existing measures could, in principle, improve sustainability, their enforcement is insufficient, and they do not limit fishing effort in a way that would allow recovery.

Opportunity for marine fisheries reform in China

“…In response to overfishing and the steady degradation of coastal ecosystems, the Chinese government has introduced a series of management measures to rebuild marine fisheries (19,22,27). These measures, listed in Table 1, include input and output controls, technical limits such as gear specifications and restrictions, spatial and temporal closures, ecological instruments, and economic incentives.…”

“…Seasonal closures, which prevent all vessels from fishing for a certain period each year, were established in 1995 for 2.5 mo/y in the Bohai and Yellow Seas, 3 mo/y in the East China Sea, and extended to 2 mo/y in the South China Sea in 1999. Seasonal closures have helped to protect several spawning stocks and juveniles with negligible implementation costs, but these improvements have been offset by heavier-than-usual fishing pressure in the postclosure months (27), and greater pressure on women in fishing communities to find alternative income during the closed seasons (28).…”

“…From 2003 to 2014, the number of professionals used in marine fisheries fell by about 7% but still exceeded 1 million, whereas the number of traditional fishermen remained above 3 million (21). Overall, these programs have suffered from limited inspection by local governments, the continued presence of illegal fishing vessels, and new entrants into the industry despite the transfer program (27).…”

Maritime NOx Emissions Over Chinese Seas Derived From Satellite Observations

“…Besides the influence of weather, the different summer moratorium of fishing in these areas is possibly another reason for the difference in the peak month of emissions. Over the Yellow Sea, shipping emissions increase in summer, which might be explained by the increase of tourism activities, while the shipping emissions reach their peak in September, because more fishing ships are expected in this month after the lifting of the summer moratorium in this area (Shen & Heino, 2014). Over the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea especially, the shipping activities decrease in winter due to sea ice and bad weather and start to increase again in April (L. Wang et al, 2013;.…”

High fishery catches through trophic cascades in China

“…Current Chinese fisheries management consists of gear restrictions, seasonal closures, and catch and effort caps (40). Fishing practices are largely indiscriminate (∼50% trawl fisheries) and there is little discard because a market exists for a wider range of species and sizes than are typically salable in other locales.…”