China's Huge Fisheries Law Overhaul Could Make Fleet More Sustainable

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[By Regina Lam]

Nearly 16 million people in China depend on fisheries production for their livelihoods. A massive overhaul of the law governing their work, unveiled in December 2024, could impact all of them.

China’s current fisheries law came into force in 1986. The amendments proposed to it last year are the most extensive since 2000, Zhang Yanxuedan, an associate professor at Shanghai Ocean University’s College of Marine Culture and Law, told Dialogue Earth.

That revision 25 years ago brought in a system of management based on total allowable catch. It has had three minor updates in subsequent years.

In contrast, 48 of 50 existing articles would be amended in the latest proposals, which also add 32 new articles and a whole chapter on supervision and management of fisheries. This reform has been in preparation for a decade, says Zhang, and she has “great hope” that it will be passed this year.

The revision places a strong focus on sustainability and conservation, which has pleased many in environmental circles. Wang Songlin, president of the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society, says: “Generally, I feel like this version of [the] fisheries law has more emphasis on sustainable development and green development.” 

Others say they want to see more protections for fishers’ livelihoods, as the legislation could alter many existing ways of harvesting the seas.

This is what you need to know about the looming shake up.

Tracking food from net to plate

Logging and sharing data about fish from the point of catch to the point of sale, also known as traceability management, can help curb illegal fishing and overfishing. A new article in the draft states that China “encourages fishing vessels to berth and unload their catch at designated ports and implement traceability management of catch”. 

Huang Shan, an ocean campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, points out that “encourages” is different to “mandates”. She says an unimplemented 2019 draft of the reform stipulated more specific measures, including product labelling that would give information of the vessel’s name and number, fishing license, fishing area and gear used for fishing. “But they were all deleted in this version,” she adds.

Zhang, who was involved in drafting the law, says the “encouragement” shows the government’s will to continuously drive better traceability so that the origins of all major catches will gradually be traceable. This would further curb illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and ensure the quality and safety of aquatic products, she adds.

But the enormous number of fishing boats in China makes implementation difficult, Zhang says. The nation has nearly 500,000 such vessels, of which 46,000 are large and medium-sized, according to official data. Checking compliance will put major pressure on ports, and authorities will need time to build enforcement capacity.

The draft law also proposes giving ports the authority to inspect foreign vessels and deny entry to those suspected of involvement in IUU fishing. 

Zhou Wei, head of the oceans programme at Greenpeace East Asia, says the move shows China’s willingness to align with the Port State Measures Agreement to tackle IUU fishing by preventing non-compliant vessels from landing catches. The PSMA is a key international deal under the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization which China has for some years said it is working towards joining, most recently in a 2023 white paper.

Tackling unregistered boats

China has a huge number of fishing boats with no official name and number, no certification and no homeport registration. These so-called “three noes” vessels are often involved in illegal activity such as fishing during moratoriums. 

The government has been clamping down on unregistered boats since the 1990s, but they remain a problem. Past crackdowns have mostly been based on regulations and notices issued by the State Council, which lack the backing of the law and clear, specific rules, notes Zhang from Shanghai Ocean University. “The current legal basis for cracking down on unregistered boats fishing is feeble,” she says.

A proposed article in the draft would both ban unregistered boats from fishing and ban the supplying of them with fuel, water and ice to preserve catches without having first checked their registration.

This substantially strengthens the crackdowns, Zhang says.

Curbing unsustainable practices 

Decades of overfishing have pushed many of China’s coastal fish stocks to the brink of collapse. In response, the government introduced policies to reduce fleet sizes, and crack down on unregistered vessels and harmful fishing gear. Experts told Dialogue Earth that the proposed revision consolidates these measures and strengthens their enforcement.  

In 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture categorised fishing gear into three groups: permitted, prohibited and transitional. The latter category meant the government will at some point decide whether to ban or permit the gear, based on conservation needs. This categorization was an attempt to create a directory of marine fishing gear, which was not then published or adopted.

In 2014, the government officially prohibited 13 types of gear, including types of trawls and rakes that can damage the seabed. It also enacted a minimum mesh size on some gear to prevent the catching of smaller, younger fish, allowing their populations to recover.

But fishers continuously invent new designs or slightly modify existing equipment, so a blacklist system can prove inadequate.

The revised fisheries law would mark a shift towards a directory of permitted gear, containing authorised types, standards and functions. Producing, selling and using anything else would be banned.

Huang of Greenpeace East Asia says the permitted-list approach is “more comprehensive and effective” for managing fishing gear and enforcing the rules.

“It is a positive sign that [the directory] was finally written in the fisheries law,” says Huang. “We look forward to seeing specific implementation guides following the legislation.”

Balancing resource protection and fishers’ livelihoods

Targeting unregistered boats and more damaging gear could curb overfishing, but it might also damage the livelihoods of people with little opportunity to take on different jobs.

“The dilemma facing our offshore fishery in China is that, while there are too few fish in the sea, we have an enormous group of subsistence fishers who fish for a living,” says Tong Yuhe, a lecturer at Hainan Tropical Ocean University.

Witnessing fish in nets getting smaller in size and age, many fishers had no choice but to use unlawful gear and chase mostly small fish for a living, he adds. As well as demanding that they phase out unsustainable gear and fishing practices, Tong suggests the legislation should set out support for fishers to find alternative employment.  

“You can’t handle the problem only by cracking down. After the crackdowns, you must offer them opportunities to make their way in another industry,” he says. 

One possibility could be recreational fishing trips for tourists. But fishers have previously been reluctant to invest in it due to a lack of clarity over its legality. The draft law does not address this directly, but states that “provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities should establish their recreational fishing management measures”. 

Some experts want a national standard that defines recreational fishing boats and gear, both to encourage development and prevent commercial fishing masquerading as recreational.

Improving aquaculture

Apart from capture fisheries management, the legislation also updates the law on aquaculture. It pushes for “energy-saving” and “environmentally friendly” forms of the industry and encourages “ecological value-added” fish farming.

Wang, of the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society, says he welcomes the emphasis on greener aquaculture. “This [proposed] article is great. It is a guiding principle that aligns with sustainability.”

He says once the proposed law is legislated, he would like to see more detailed guidelines and efforts to nudge consumer behaviour towards purchasing aquatic products fed with greener feed.

He also suggests a ban on using wild-caught juvenile shrimp, crab and molluscs as food for farmed animals, as sourcing these can imperil wild populations. Using plant-based ingredients, insects or algae instead could reduce the pressure on marine ecosystems.

Wang also hopes that the revised law can feature more stringent rules on drug use and wastewater discharge, thereby limiting the impacts on aquatic environments and their biodiversity.

The journey to a new fisheries law

It took more than a decade of work from experts and legislators for the revised draft to reach the state legislative body, the National People’s Congress (NPC).

It is now with the NPC’s standing committee, its permanent body, for review, and was open for public consultation until 23 January. The standing committee usually reviews a bill two or three times before it is passed.

Experts involved in and observing the process told Dialogue Earth that significant efforts were made coordinating with and getting feedback from across government and stakeholders.

Zhang notes that the fisheries law regulates the industry and its sustainable use and protection of natural resources, but it is also vital that it protects fishers. 

“These three aspects involve different regulatory demands. Coordinating and balancing these different interests, while fulfilling the aims of the legislation, is a challenge in revising the law,” she says. “Pushing for such significant legislation amendment is not easy.”

Regina Lam is an ocean and special projects assistant editor at Dialogue Earth, based in London. She joined in 2021 and has worked at major Hong Kong newspapers and has reported for the BBC World Service. She holds an MSc in global affairs from King’s College London. Regina is interested in global ocean governance, environmental justice and what makes compelling storytelling and robust investigation in environmental journalism. She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English.

This article appears courtesy of Dialogue Earth and may be found in its original form here.