China’s recent ratification of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing – also known simply as the Port State Measures Agreement – is a “concrete measure” that shows China’s authentic resolve in fighting illegal fishing, according to the China Aquatic Product Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA).
On 21 January, the Chinese State Council officially certified the agreement after signing it initially in 2016. The agreement aims to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing by preventing vessels engaged in illegal fishing from using ports and landing their catches.
“As a responsible major fishing country, China's formal certification to the agreement at the beginning of 2025 is a great event for the international fishing community,” said Zhu Zhengguang, the head of sustainable trade and value chains and the deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation at CAPPMA.
Zhu told SeafoodSource that the move represents “a milestone event in the process of promoting the modernization of China's fishery industry.”
China’s ratification of the agreement does not mean it becomes a party to the agreement, which would require it to enforce its provisions. Acceding to the agreement solely means China is committing on its own to take actions “not only to combat IUU but also take actions in monitoring ports” in preparation of becoming a party, Zhu said.
Accession to the agreement also sets the tone for China’s ongoing revision of its Fisheries Law, Zhu further explained.
“China is now revising its Fisheries Law and will put forward this issue to the new version,” he said. “IUU fishing is a major problem in the fishing industry, posing a serious threat to the effective conservation and management of fishery resources. The implementation of the agreement is considered one of the most effective measures to deal with IUU fishing.”
To become a party to the agreement, a country would formally deposit their accession with FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, who was formerly a senior official at China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
China intends to eventually become a party to the agreement, Zhu said.
The Asian nation has become receptive recently to calls for it to tackle IUU issues more fervently. More specifically, in February, Hang Zhou, a professor at Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based University of Laval, wrote an article stating that China has become more receptive to advice and pressure from international NGOs on IUU fishing matters, which have accused the country of being one of the world's top offenders of such illegal practices.
“I think certain Chinese bureaucrats … know they face different challenges in regulating – from afar – the presence of different Chinese business actors, and they need inputs from actors who have a more grounded understanding and information on the impacts of that Chinese presence,” Zhou said.
In addition to combating IUU fishing, China has also made it a priority while crafting its new Fisheries Law to lower chemical use and emissions levels in the nation’s aquaculture sector, including at tilapia farms on the island province of Hainan, which now must obtain export certifications in order for processors or exporters to use their products.
“The certification process requires farms to submit detailed information, including site images, processing plant contracts, and information on water treatment facilities,” and farms are subject to punishment from environmental inspectors “if false declarations are found,” according to exporting firm Amyco Seafoods.
