China’s current fisheries law came into force in 1986. Major new amendments proposed to it last year (2024) are the most extensive since 2000, according to Zhang Yanxuedan, associate professor at Shanghai Ocean University’s College of Marine Culture and Law. She adds that this reform has been in preparation for a decade, and should be passed this year.
The revision places a strong focus on sustainability and conservation, which has pleased many in environmental circles. Wang Songlin, president of the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society, says: “Generally, I feel like this version of [the] fisheries law has more emphasis on sustainable development and green development.”
Logging and sharing data about fish from the point of catch to the point of sale, or traceability management, can help curb illegal fishing and overfishing. A clause in the draft states that China “encourages fishing vessels to berth and unload their catch at designated ports and implement traceability management of catch”.
Zhang, who was involved in drafting the law, says “encouragement” shows the government’s will to continuously drive better traceability so that the origins of all major catches will gradually be traceable. This would further curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and ensure the quality and safety of aquatic products, she adds.
Nearly 16 million people in China depend on fisheries production for their livelihoods. A massive overhaul of the law governing their work, unveiled in the proposed changes could impact all of them.
The enormous number of fishing boats in China makes implementation difficult, Zhang says. The nation has nearly 500,000 such vessels, of which 46,000 are large and medium-sized, according to official data. Checking compliance will put major pressure on ports, and authorities will need time to build enforcement capacity.
The draft law would also give ports the authority to inspect foreign vessels and deny entry to those suspected of involvement in unreported and unregulated fishing.
Zhou Wei, head of the oceans programme at Greenpeace East Asia, says the move shows China’s willingness to align with the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) to tackle unreported and unregulated fishing by preventing non-compliant vessels from landing catches. The PSMA is a key international deal under the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization which China has for some years said it is working towards joining, most recently in a 2023 white paper.
Read full article: at Dialogue Earth (formerly China Dialogue), February 26, 2025.
https://dialogue.earth/en/ocean/understanding-chinas-huge-fisheries-law-overhaul/
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