China’s output from its distant-water fleet contracted 3 percent in 2021, totaling 2.24 million metric tons (MT), or 3.3 percent of the country’s overall seafood output, according to official data published by the fisheries bureau of China’s Agriculture Ministry.
China’s overall seafood production rose by 2.1 percent in 2021 to 66.9 million MT, of which 53.9 million MT was derived from aquaculture, up 3.2 percent on year-over-year. Overall output from seawater seafood production and freshwater production were even at 33 million MT. Freshwater area production was twice that of marine in hectare terms, with 55 percent of production based on earthen ponds. However, China’s freshwater aquaculture acreage contracted 1.1 percent, while its marine aquaculture area rose by 1.5 percent over 2020.
The fact that China’s aquaculture production is increasing while total farmed acreage has decreased – at least according to official government data – is a sign the sector is becoming more efficient. It’s also evidence government plans to rehabilitate degraded river networks and wetlands are having an impact.
The fisheries bureau data reported a 17 percent year-on-year drop in freshwater wild-caught fishery output, suggesting that the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River system is having a major impact. Overall, there was a 0.5 percent increase in catch from domestic water bodies, but China’s total output from wild-catch fisheries slipped by 2.1 percent to 12.9 million MT.
China’s seafood industry workforce continues to shrink. While 16.5 million people were categorized by the report as working in the fisheries industry (encompassing catch, aquaculture and processing), the figure is down 5 percent year-on-year. The total dropped by a similar amount in 2020.
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