China's Marine Fishery and Global Ocean Governance
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12419 |
| Published date | 01 May 2017 |
| Date | 01 May 2017 |
China’s Marine Fishery and Global Ocean
Governance
Hongzhou Zhang and Fengshi Wu
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore
Abstract
This paper first examines two most significant structural shifts in China’s marine fishery sector in the past decades, namely,
expanding outward and going after high market value species. It then explains how domestic policies and development
strategies have shaped the trajectory of China’s marine fishery sector, and analyzes the obstacles rooted in both domestic
socio-political settings and global governance that have impeded policy reform and effective enforcement in China to ensure
marine sustainability and international cooperation. Lastly, the paper explores possible options for transnational advocacy
actors that are concerned with the global impact of China’s growing fisheries.
Policy implications
•The outward expansion of China’s offshore fishing can result in a rising number of fishing incidents and disputes in the
regional waters and beyond.
•Chinese fishermen’s poaching of endangered marine species and Chinese fishing companies’unsustainable activities could
have devastating impacts on the global marine environment and generate more challenges for global ocean governance.
•To achieve sustainable fisheries, China needs to reform its marine fishery policies and take international norms and best
practices into consideration.
•NGOs, experts networks and other actors of transnational policy advocacy may have a role to play in fostering policy and
practice changes in China.
Background
By 2015, China has developed world’s largest fishing fleet and
industry, and is reaching into some of the world’s deepest
waters. Amid lingering maritime territorial disputes between
China and neighboring countries, Chinese fishermen are
often caught in incidents in regional and international waters,
which have triggered political tensions between the govern-
ments involved. Also, the outward and rapid expansion of
China’s marine fishery sector, as well as Chinese companies
and fishermen’s illegal harvesting of endangered marine spe-
cies, have generated pressure on the already fragile global
marine ecology and new challenges to global governance.
The paper examines the structural changes of China’s marine
fishery sector, the main policy rationales behind them, and the
obstacles rooted in domestic socio-political settings and global
ocean governance that have prevented policy formation and
effective law enforcement to ensure marine sustainability and
international cooperation. The next section provides the general
background and explains two most significant structural shifts
of China’s marine fishery in the past three to four decades,
namely, expanding outward and going after high market value
species. The paper then takes a closer look at the development
trajectory of China’s marine fishery and explains the policy ratio-
nales and paradoxes that have shaped it. After explaining the
challenges in both domestic and global governing structures,
the last section of the paper explores the potential for transna-
tional advocacy actors to engage with various stakeholders in
China to introduce new policy ideas and practices in order to
reverse some of the ongoing trends and improve fishery sus-
tainability at the global level.
In addition to publicly available official documents and
statistics and scholarly works, the analysis in the paper also
relies on the authors’own previous research, fieldwork
observations and interview materials. Particularly, between
October 2014 and December 2016, the first author has con-
ducted six field researches trips to China’s some of China’s
major fishing towns, including Tanmen in Hainan (October
2014/November 2015/December 2016), Lianjiang county in
Fujian (October 2014), Qingdao in Shandong (December
2014) and Zhoushan in Zhengjiang (July 2015), to collect
specific data for this paper.
Expanding Outward and Distant: China’s Marine
Fishery Sector
A brief overview of China’s fishing industry
Since the ‘Reform and Open Door’policy was launched in
1978, China’sfishing industry has experienced phenomenal
©2017 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2017) 8:2 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12419
Global Policy Volume 8 . Issue 2 . May 2017
216
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