China Fishery Production Management

Table of Contents

  1. Fishery Zones
    1. Inland Fishery Zones
    2. Shallow Sea and Shoal Aquaculture Zones
    3. Marine Fishery Zones
  2. Fishing
    1. Inland Fishing
    2. Marine Fishing
  3. Aquaculture
    1. Inland Aquaculture
    2. Marine Aquaculture
  4. Fishery Product Processing
  5. Fishery Product Trade

A. Fishery Zones

a. Inland Fishery Zones

  1. The northeast fishery zone , including Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province, Liaoning Province and the eastern part of Inner Mongolia. Fishing in the lakes and reservoirs was the major fishery practice in the past, but aquaculture has developed rapidly in recent years.
  2. The north China fishery zone, the areas located in the middle and lower reaches of Yellow River and Haihe River valley, including Shanxi Province, Heibei Province, Tianjin, Beijing, Shandong Province and some parts of Henan Province, Shaanxi Province, Ningxia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province. Extensive fish farming is mostly carried out in this zone.
  3. The fishery zone in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River , including Hunan Province, Hubei Province, Jiangxi Province, Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Shanghai and some parts of Henan Province and Shaanxi Province. This zone covers China's 5 big lakes such as Dongtinghu Lake, Boyanghu Lake, Taihu Lake, and is most developed in inland fisheries in China. The areas around the lakes have built up quite a few state-owned commercial fish farming bases to meet the demands of some large cities in China.
  4. The south China fishery zone , including Guangdong Province, Guangxi Province, Fujian Province and Taiwan Province. It is second in importance in China in terms of inland fisheries. Intensive fish farming is mostly practiced in this area. It is also the largest freshwater fish product exporter thanks to being adjacent to Hongkong and Macao.
  5. The southwest fishery zone , including Yunnan Province, Guizhou Province, Sichuan Province and some parts of Hunan Province, Hubei Province and Guangxi Province. Fishing in the lakes is the major fishery practiced in this zone and fishery resource enhancement has been paid more attention in recent years.
  6. Meng-Xin fishery zone , including some parts of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Gansu Province. The zone is mainly engaged in fish farming in the salt lakes and reservoirs.
  7. Qing-Zang fishery zone , including Qinghai Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. Fisheries are less developed and most of waters remain to be explored for fisheries.

b. Shallow Sea and Shoal Aquaculture Zones

  1. Bohai aquaculture zone , including Liaodong Bay, Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay, where shrimp culture is dominant.
  2. The northern Yellow Sea aquaculture zone, including Liaodong areas and Jiaodong areas, where molluscs and seaweeds are the major culture objects.
  3. The southern Yellow Sea aquaculture zone where shoal aquaculture is carried out.
  4. The aquaculture zone around the mouth of theYangtze River.
  5. The aquaculture zone along the west coast of the East China Sea, including Zhejiang and Fujian coastal areas, where aquaculture is carried out in shallow seas and shoals.
  6. The aquaculture zone along the north coast of the South China Sea, including Guangdong and Guangxi coastal areas, where aquaculture is carried out in shallow seas.
  7. The aquaculture zone around the islands in the South China Sea.
  8. Taiwan coastal aquaculture zone.
About cultivatable areas in the shallow seas, shoals and bays, China Fishery Statistics page.

c. Marine Fishery Zones

  1. Bohai fishery zone.
  2. Yellow Sea fishery zone, including the northern, central and southern parts.
  3. East China Sea fishery zone, including the coastal waters, inshore, offshore and Taiwan waters.
  4. South China Sea fishery zone, including the coastal waters, inshore, offshore, Beibuwan, the Dongsha Islands, the Xisha Islands, the Nansha Islands and the deep waters on South China Sea continental shelf slope.
About fishing grounds in China, refer to China Fishery Statistics page.

B. Fishing

a. Inland Fishing

Inland fishing is carried out in inland waters including rivers, lakes and reservoirs. There are numerous rivers in China, of which the well known ones are Yangtze River, Yellow River, Pearl River, Heilongjiang River, Wusulijiang River, Yalujiang River, Huaihe River, Haihe River and Minjiang River. The great lakes in China are Dongting Lake, Boyang Lake, Taihu Lake, Hongzhe Lake, Xingkai Lake, Qinghai Lake, Dalai Lake, Namucuo Lake, Qilincuo Lake, Nansi Lake, Boshiteng Lake, Aibi Lake and Zarinanmucuo Lake. China also has about 38600 reservoirs. The inland waters and annual inland fishing production are recorded respectively in China Fishery Statistics page.

b. Marine Fishing

China marine fishing is divided into the following according to different waters:
  1. Offshore fishing: The offshore fishing is mostly takeing place in the waters east to 127E longitude along East China Sea and around the Xisha, Zhongsha, Dongsha and Nansha islands.
  2. Inshore fishing: The inshore fishing is a major marine fishing operation in China. The production accounts for 70%-80% of the total marine fishing production. It is operated in Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, the area within N33, E125; N29, E125; N28, E124.5; N27, E123 in East China Sea, and the area east to E112 within 80 meter isobath and west to E120 within 100 meter isobath in South China Sea.
  3. Coast fishing: The coast fishing is in the waters within the line forbidden for powered fishing boat operation. It has advantages of easy operation and less cost. But the resources there have highly deteriorated.
  4. Long distant water fishing: The long distant water fishing refers to fishing in high seas or fishing in foreign nations' waters under a certain agreement. This fishing operation has developed in the past decade and is becoming more and more important in Chinese marine fishing production.
The major marine fishing methods employed by Chinese fishermen are trawling, seining, gill net fishing, stationary fishing and longline fishing. The data on annual marine fishing production and by different fishing methods is available in China Fishery Statistics page.

C. Aquaculture

a. Inland Aquaculture

China has a long history in inland aquaculture. The production of inland aquaculture ranks first in the world. The production forms involved in China inland aquaculture include pond fish culture, lake fish culture, river fish culture, reservoir fish culture, paddy field fish culture, net cage fish culture, flowing water fish culture, green house fish culture. Pond fish culture is the major production form in China. Its production accounts for 75.3% in the total inland aquaculture, while lake fish culture, river fish culture and reservoir fish culture make up 11.4%, 8.7% and 4.6%, respectively. The major species for inland aquaculture are grass carp, black carp, silver carp, big head carp, common carp, crucian carp, Chinese bream, mud carp and Tilapia. Recently, some valuable species like freshwater shrimps, pearls, crabs, turtles and frogs have also been taken for aquaculture as they have become economically important.

The data on inland aquaculture production, area, species and unit yield are available in China Fishery Statistics page.

b. Marine Aquaculture

Marine aquaculture in China is mostly operated in shallow seas, shoals and bays. Cultured species extend to fish, shellfish, molluscs and sea weed, such as shrimp, oyster, mussel, scallop, clam, blood clam, razor clam, abalone, red porgy, black porgy, Tilapia, grouper, crab, kelp and laver. The production forms of marine aquaculture include floating raft culture, semi-floating raft culture, net cage culture, sea ground sowing, vertical culture, stone adhesion culture and pond culture. The seedlings for aquaculture are obtained from artificial breeding, semi-artificial breeding and natural breeding.

The data on marine aquaculture production, area and unit yield is available in China Fishery Statistics page.

D. Fishery Product Processing

Fishery products are easily putrified, so the processing after harvest is very important. The products are generally processed in the following forms:
  1. Frozen products;
  2. Dried products;
  3. Smoked products;
  4. Canned products;
  5. Fish sausage or cake;
  6. Fish meal;
  7. Fish egg or jam;
  8. Fish oil;
  9. Flavouring additives;
  10. Medicine;
  11. Algae products like agar etc;
  12. Crafts like pearl chain etc.
For more information on China fishery product processing, refer to China Fishery Statistics page. .

E. Fishery Product Trade

With the development of fishery production, China has made an effort to export fishery products to international markets although most are still consumed in the domestic market. This effort has gradually grown rapidly in the past decade thanks to the state economic reform policies. The majority of export goes to the United States, Japan, Europe, Hongkong and Macao. For data on China fishery export, refer to China Fishery Statistics page. .
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