Guangdong to invest in long-distance fleet while cutting local fishing

One of China’s leading seafood production and consumption regions is reporting a sharp increase in output in 2016 and a massive injection of public cash to expand the local long-distance fishing companies.

According to the annual meeting of the Fisheries Bureau of Guangdong Province, which produces a fifth of China’s overall seafood output, CNY 800 million (USD 116 million, EUR 109.6 million) of public funds will be invested in expanding long-distance fishing operations out of local ports.

Guangdong fisheries produced CNY 265 billion (USD 38.4 million, EUR 36.3 million) in output last year, up 12.5 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial government – a figure that has been helped by growing volume from a larger international fleet.

The large investment is part of the oddly named Guangdong Provincial Coastline Protection and Exploitation Plan, which calls for increased activity in fisheries as well as energy, biotechnology and tourism.

All of this is happening while China seeks to curtail fishing in its own overfished waters. The Ministry of Agriculture released an implementation notice on February 20 for what it promised would be the “strictest fishing moratorium in history.”

The newly adjusted moratorium will now starts on 1 May every year in all of China's national waters. The moratorium, enforced since 1995, has had mixed results, with patchy enforcement a major hindrance in its successful implementation.

Subscribe

Want seafood news sent to your inbox?

You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time. Diversified Communications | 121 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101 | +1 207-842-5500
None