Fishing industry in China

Fishing industry in China

300px China's continental shelf covers 431,000 km²
General characteristics (2004 unless otherwise stated)
Coastline	14,500 km
EEZ area	877,019 sq km
Lake area	196,000 sq km (incl reservoirs)
River area	74,550 sq km
Land area	9,326,410 sq km
Employment	7.9 million persons (2004)
Fishing fleet	220,000 motorised vessels 25,600 vessels greater than 100 gt (2002) Total fleet power 12.7 million kW
Consumption	25.8 kg fish per capita (2003)
Fisheries GDP	US$ 45.9 billion (2004)
Export value	US$ 6.6 billion (2004)
Import value	US$ 3.1 billion (2004)
Harvest (2004 unless otherwise stated)
Wild marine	14.5 million tonnes
Wild inland marine	2.4 million tonnes
Wild total	19.9 million tonnes
Aquaculture total	32.4 million tonnes (2005)
Fish total	49.5 million tonnes (2005)

China, with one-fifth of the world's population, accounts for one-third of the world's reported fish production and two-thirds of the worlds reported aquaculture production.

Aquaculture, the farming of fish in ponds, lakes and tanks, accounts for two-thirds of China's reported output. China's 2005 reported harvest was 32.4 million tonnes, more than 10 times that of the second-ranked nation, India, which reported 2.8 million tonnes.

China's 2005 reported catch of wild fish, caught in rivers, lakes, and the sea, was 17.1 million tonnes, far ahead of the second-ranked nation, the United States, which reported 4.9 million tonnes.

The principal aquaculture-producing regions are close to urban markets in middle and lower Yangtze valley and the Zhu Jiang delta.

Statistics

Since 2002, China has been the world largest exporter of fish and fish products. In 2005, exports, including aquatic plants, were valued at US$7.7 billion, with Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea as the main markets. In 2005, China was the sixth largest importer of fish and fish products in the world, with imports totaling US$4.0 billion.

In 2003, the global per capita consumption of fish was estimated at 16.5 kg, with Chinese consumption, based on her reported returns, at 25.8 kg.

In 2010, China accounted for 60% of global aquaculture production (by volume) and had ~14 million people (26% of the world total) engaged as fishers and fish farmers (FAO). In 2009, China produced approximately 21 million metric tons (MTs) of freshwater fish or 48% of global output, and 5.3 million MTs of crustaceans or 49% of global output.

Wild fisheries

Coastal fisheries

File:China blank map.svg

China has a coastline of 14,500 km

China has a coastline of 14,500 kilometres, and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 877,019 square kilometres. The fishing grounds range from sub-tropical to temperate zones and include 431,000 square kilometres of continental shelves (within 200 meters deep).

Areas of marine fishing grounds in km²
Region	Area	Continental shelf	EEZ
Bohai Sea	24,000	24,000	24,000
Yellow Sea	127,000	127,000	103,000
East China Sea	252,000	151,000	160,000
South China Sea	630,000	129,000	531,000
Total	1,033,000	431,000	818,000

There are ongoing disputes with several neighbouring nations over the exact extent of the EEZ in the South China Sea.

The China seas contain about 3,000 marine species, of which more than 150 species are fished commercially. Some major marine fishing species in recent times are hairtail, chub mackerel, black scraper, anchovy and some species of shrimps, crabs and smaller fishes.

Distant fisheries

The world's EEZs are shown as a white extension of the land. International waters (high seas) are highlighted in blue.

Chinese distant water fishing activities started in 1985 when China gained access to new fishing grounds through agreements with foreign countries. By 1996, these fisheries had extended to 60 regions around the world, employing 21,200 fishermen, 1381 fishing vessels, and caught 926,500 tonnes.

The China National Fishery Corporation (CNFC) is the major operator in the distant water fisheries. It sent the first Chinese fishing fleet to West African waters in 1985. The following year, with other Chinese partners, CNFC started trawling operations in the North Pacific. Tuna longlining followed in the South Pacific, and in 1989, squid longlining in the Japan Sea and the North Pacific.

Inland fisheries

File:Yangxin-Fushui-River-fishermen-0043.jpg

Fishermen on the Fushui River, China

File:Daye-pond-system-fishermen-0077.jpg

People fishing on a system of ponds constructed on a bay of the Daye Lake

Inland China has 176,000 square km of inland waters (1.8 percent of the inland area). Eighty thousand reservoirs contribute another 20,000 km².

China reputably has 709 freshwater fish species and 58 subspecies, with another 64 species migrating between sea and inland waters.

Carp are a commercially important species, particularly silver carp, bighead carp, black carp, grass carp, common carp and crucian carp. Other commercially important species are bream, reeves shad, eel, cat fish, rainbow trout, salmon, whitebait, mullet, mandarin fish, perch, sturgeon, murrel and pangolin. Commercial shellfish include freshwater shrimp and river crabs, molluscs include freshwater mussels, clams and freshwater snails. Aquatic plants are also harvested: lotus, water chestnut and the gorgon nut Euryale ferox. Other commercial species include the soft-shell turtle and the frog.

China inland fish production before 1963 came mainly from wild inland fisheries. Since then, wild inland fishery resources have decreased because of overfishing, dam building, land reclamation for agriculture, and industrial pollution. During the 1970s, the annual output of wild inland fisheries had dropped to 300,000 tonnes per year. In 1978, the government set up organizational structures to deal with these issues, and to stock fish fingerlings in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. This reversed many of the problems, and by 1996 production reached 1.76 million tonnes. However, inland aquaculture has made even bigger gains, and now outstrips production from the wild inland fisheries.

Major lakes and rivers in China
Lake	Location	Area (km2)	Fisheries
Qinghaihu Lake	Qinghai	4,583
Qinghaihu Lake	Qinghai	4,583
Boyanghu Lake	Jiangxi	3,583
Luobubo Lake	Xinjiang	3,006
Dongtinghu Lake	Hunan	2,820
Taihu Lake	Jiangsu	2,420
Hulunhu Lake	Neimenggu	2,315
Hongzehu Lake	Jiangsu	1,586
River	Length (km)	Area (km2)	Fisheries
Yangtze River	5,800	18,085
Yellow River	5,464	7,524
Heilongjiang River	2,965	8,900
Talimu River	2,179	1,980
Zhujiang River	2,129	4,257
Songhuajiang River	1,840	5,456
Yaluzangbujiang River	1,787	2,416
Lancangjiang River	1,612	1,540
Nujiang River	1,540	1,200
Hanjiang River	1,532	1,744
Liaohe River	1,430	1,920
Nenjiang River	1,370	2,439
Yalongjiang River	1,187	1,443
Yujiang River	1,162
Jialinjiang River	1,119	1,598
Haihe River	1,090	2,650
Wujiang River	1,018	882
Huaihe River	1,000	18,700

Management

File:Zhuhai-fishing-port-0692.jpg

Zhuhai fishing port

In 1999, China set an objective of “zero growth” in coastal marine capture catch, and in 2001 changed the objective to “minus growth”. To achieve this, China has been reducing vessel numbers and relocating fishermen away from marine capture fisheries. By the end of 2004, 8,000 vessels were scrapped and 40,000 fishermen were relocated. In 2006, China issued the Programme of Action on Conservation of Living Aquatic Resources of China. This provides that, by 2010, deterioration of the aquatic environment, declines in fisheries resources and increases in endangered species will be arrested, over-capacity will be reduced, and efficiencies will be increased.

2010 marine fishery targets
	2002	2010
Motorised fishing vessels	220,000	192,000
Fishing fleet power	12.70 million kW	11.43 million kW
Marine catch	13.06 million ton	12 million ton

The fisheries authorities of China have adopted the following fishery management methods:

• Season moratorium: Since 1994, China has been imposing a hot season moratorium in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. This moratorium affects 120,000 fishing vessels and one million fishermen. During this period, trawling and sailing stake net fishing are banned, and set nets are closed for at least two months in all marine areas. From 2004, all fishing operations, except use of gillnets with mesh size over 90 mm, are banned in Bohai Bay between 16 June and 1 September.
• Input controls: China uses input control as a major strategy. Regulation of Capture Fisheries Permit Management, issued in 2002, requires fisheries authorities in China to control the overall fishing capacity through target limits for vessels and gear, as well as through the issue of fishing permits.
• Output controls: These include regulation governing the allowed proportion of undersized fish in catch.

Over reporting

In 2001, the fisheries scientists Reg Watson and Daniel Pauly expressed concerns in a letter to Nature, that China was over reporting its catch from wild fisheries in the 1990s. They said that made it appear that the global catch since 1988 was increasing annually by 300,000 tonnes, whereas it was really shrinking annually by 350,000 tonnes. Watson and Pauly suggested this may be related to China policies where state entities that monitor the economy are also tasked with increasing output. Also, until recently, the promotion of Chinese officials was based on production increases from their own areas.

China disputes this claim. The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Yang Jian, director general of the Agriculture Ministry's Bureau of Fisheries, as saying that China's figures were "basically correct". However, the FAO accepts there are issues about the reliability of China's statistical returns, and currently treats data from China apart from the rest of the world.

Aquaculture

Main article: Aquaculture in China

Aquaculture has been used in China since the 2nd millennium BC. When the waters lowered after river floods, some fishes, mainly carp, were held in artificial ponds. Their brood were later fed using nymphs and silkworm feces, while the fish themselves were eaten as a source of protein. By a fortunate genetic mutation, this early domestication of carp led to the development of goldfish in the Tang Dynasty.

Cyprinus carpio is the number one fish of aquaculture. The annual tonnage of common carp, not to mention the other cyprinids, produced in China exceeds the weight of all other fish, such as trout and salmon, produced by aquaculture worldwide.

Since the 1970s, the reform policies have resulted in the rapid development of China’s aquaculture, both in fresh and in sea waters. Total aquaculture areas rose from 2.86 million hectors in 1979 to 5.68 million hectors in 1996, and the production rose from 1.23 million tonnes to 15.31 million tonnes.

In 2005, worldwide aquaculture production including aquatic plants was worth US$78.4 billion. Of this, the Chinese production was worth US$39.8 billion. In the same year there were about 12 million fish farmers worldwide. Of these, China reported 4.5 million employed full-time in aquaculture.

Grass carp

Bighead carp

Top 10 species grown in China in 2005
Species	Tonnes
Japanese kelp	4 314 000
Grass carp	3 857 000
Pacific cupped oyster	3 826 000
Silver carp	3 525 000
Japanese carpet shell	2 857 000
Common carp	2 475 000
Wakame	2 395 000
Bighead carp	2 182 000
Crucian carp	2 083 000
Yesso scallop	1 036 000

Production, area and yield: 2003
	Total production (tons)	Area used (ha)	Yield (kg/ha)
Overall total	30,275,795	7,103,648	4,260
Marine culture	12,533,061	1,532,152	8,180
Inland culture	17,742,734	5,571,496	3,180
Pond	12,515,093	2,398,740	5,220
Lake	1,051,930	936,262	1,120
Reservoirs	1,841,245	1,660,027	1,110
Rivers	738,459	382,170	1,930
Rice paddies	1,023,611	1,558,042	660
Other	572,396	194,297	2,950

Inland aquaculture

In 1979, inland aquaculture occupied 237.8 million hectares and produced 813,000 tonnes. In 1996, they occupied 485.8 million hectares and produced 10.938 million tonnes. In that year, 17 provinces produced 100,000 tonnes from inland aquaculture.

Pond culture is the most common method of inland aquaculture (73.9% in 1996). These ponds are mostly found around the Pearl River basin and along the Yangtze River. They cover seven provinces: Anhui, Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Shandong. The government has also supported developments in rural areas to get rid of poverty. The sector is significant from a nutrition point of view, because it brings seafood to areas inland away from the sea where consumption of seafood has traditionally been low.

In recent times, China has extended its skills in culturing pond system to open waters such as lakes, rivers, reservoirs and channels, by incorporating cages, nets and pens.

Fish farming in paddy fields is also developing. In 1996, paddy fish farming occupied 12.05 million hectares producing 376,800 tonnes. A further 16 million hectares of paddy fields are available for development.

Species introduced from other parts of the world are also being farmed, such as rainbow trout, tilapia, paddle fish, toad catfish, silver salmon, river perch, roach and Collossoma brachypomum.

Marine aquaculture

Mariculture off High Island, Hong Kong

Using current culture technologies, much farmed cultivation of marine plants and animals can be applied within the 10 metre isobath in marine environments. There are about 1.33 million hectares of marine cultivable areas in China, including shallow seas, mudflats and bays. Before 1980, less than nine percent of these areas were cultivated, and species were mainly confined to kelp, laver (Porphyra) and mussels.

Between 1989 and 1996, areas of cultivated shallow sea were increased from 25,200 to 114,200 hectares, areas of mudflat from 266,800 to 533,100 hectares, and areas of bay from 131,300 to 174,800 hectares. The 1979 production was 415,900 tonnes on 117,000 hectares, and the 1996 production was 4.38 million tonnes on 822,000 hectares.

Since the 1980s, the government has encouraged the introduction of different marine species, including the large shrimp or prawn Penaeus chinensis, as well as scallop, mussel, sea bream, abalone, grouper and the mud mangrove crab Scylla serrata.

In 1989, production of farmed shrimp was 186,000 tonnes, and China was the largest producer in the world. In 1993 viral disease struck, and by 1996 production declined to 89,000 tonnes. This was attributed to inadequate management such as overfeeding and high stock densities.

• 
• Daye-pond-system-fishermen-0076.jpg
• Daye-pond-system-fishermen-0079.jpg
• Daye-Hu-fishermen-0081.jpg
• Fishing boats at Tai O 2.jpg
• FV Tian Yu 8.JPG
• Freshwater shrimp fishing.jpg
• Fishingboat 6775.JPG

History

A Chinese fisherman with his cormorant on Erhai Lake near Dali, Yunnan

Historically, cormorant fishing has been a significant fishing technique in China. To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the bird's throat. This prevents the birds from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat. When a cormorant has caught a fish, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has the bird spit the fish out. Chinese fishermen often employ great cormorants. Though cormorant fishing used to be a successful fishing industry, its primary use today is to serve the tourism industry. In Guilin, Guangxi Province, cormorant birds are famous for fishing on the shallow Lijiang River.

See also

• Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences
• Chinese bahaba
• Cultured freshwater pearls
• Water resources of China

References

• FAO: The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2004: Part 3: Scope of the seaweed industry
• Hart PJB and Reynolds JD (2002) Handbook of Fish Biology and Fisheries Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-632-06482-3

External links

• Pacific Rim Fisheries: People's Republic of China, Pacific Coast
• NOAA Central Library (2000) Importance of the Fishery Industry in China
• NOAA Central Library (2000) Fishery Enterprises in China
• NOAA Central Library (2000) Fish processing
• Fishing in China New York Times, 25 March 1877.
• Cairns,D (1948) Fishing Industry in China Tuatara, Vol. 1, issue 2.
• Muscolino, M (2008) The yellow croaker war: Fishery disputes between China and Japan, 1925–1935 Environmental History 13(2).
• Chinese Cooperation with International Agreements on Oceanic Issues The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, October 1997.