China Revamping Decades-Old Fisheries Law to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing: Stimulating the Intersection of Law, Technology, and Markets

Abstract

As the world’s leading fish producer, exporter and consumer State, China must act decisively to eradicate national and international commerce in wild-capture species derived from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In 2019 China launched an overhaul of its 1986 Fisheries Law with a draft statute subject to the deliberation of the National People’s Congress. In this policy brief, we argue that China should not miss the opportunity but proactively align with the global paradigm shift toward responsible and sustainable fisheries management. To amend the patchy legal framework and implement the rule of law ahead, we suggest technology-enabled traceability and market-responsive solutions to help the country mitigate illicit capturing, processing, and transaction events infiltrating from bait to plate.

Fishery legislative reform towards Japan’s Fukushima nuclear wastewater discharge into the sea—A Chinese perspective

“…China's existing legislation on forbidden fishing areas fails to meet the demand for regulating pelagic fishing in regions with a high nuclear radiation level. Instead, China's existing pelagic fishery legislation focuses on regulating illegal fishing behaviors and the illegal destruction of the marine ecological environment (He and Zhang, 2022). The flows of nuclear wastewater into the sea have brought such thoughts to China's pelagic fishery: The pelagic fishery should be restricted, and such restrictions are not only reflected in the legitimacy of fishing behaviors but also involve harsher limitations on the fishing zone, particularly addressing forbidden fishing areas.…”