Two fishery research vessels built at a cost of CNY 458 million (USD 68.7, EUR 59.5 million) are providing greater capacity to monitor fish stocks at home and globally, the Chinese government has announced.
At recent joint meeting of the National Reform and Development Commission (NDRC) and the Fisheries Governance Office of the Agriculture Ministry to review the vessels’ first 18 months of operations, the NRDC said the vessels will be used to research global fishery resources. The NDRC is a policy drafting body serving the State Council or China’s cabinet office and originally greenlighted the building of the two vessels, the Lan Hai 101 and Lan Hai 201, in 2019.
A joint statement by the two government bodies after the meeting praised the “international standard” equipment on board the vessels, which have also been deployed to monitor progress on fishing bans and replenishment projects in China’s domestic waters. One of those efforts is a bid to revive stocks of wild eel in the waters off Fujian Province in southern China.
China’s official policy has stressed conserving domestic stocks while expanding the country’s distant-water fleet. Staffed by the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, the vessels are patrolling domestic and international waters to survey fishing stocks, but also to test fishing gear, according to a statement marking two years since their launch of the Lan Hai 101 and the Lan Hai 201 – both 3,000 tons and 85 meters in length.
Built by state-owned ship maker China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and launched at the Hu Dong Zhong Hua shipyard in Shanghai, the two vessels study fisheries resources and the marine environment in seas around China, as well as the high seas. The vessels are not tasked with policing Chinese distant-water vessels.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences
