Many ports in China have recently entered the peak season of fishery production.
In Rongcheng, east China’s Shandong province, fishermen are putting out to sea and inshore
aquatic farms getting busy. In Yuhuan of east China’s Zhejiang province, fishermen are loading ice
onto their boats for refrigeration and patching fishing nets. In Hainan province, fish harvests are
always seen at terminals.
The ocean, breeding lives and containing huge resources, plays a vital role. As a major maritime
country, China boasts a long coastline, vast sea areas under national jurisdiction and abundant
marine resources.
Since the ancient times, the Chinese people living in coastal areas have taken the sea as a source
of fishing and salt making, as well as a means of transport. However, uncontrolled exploitation of
resources would lead to overfishing, marine pollution and other problems.
To make a change, China has been constantly promoting the transformation and upgrading of
traditional fishing businesses in recent years.
As the Chinese people gain deeper and deeper understanding of the sea, they have gradually
reached a consensus that marine resources must be exploited in a reasonable manner. Therefore,
they built a batch of marine ranching complexes that aim at restoring resources and developing
eco-friendly mariculture with high quality and efficiency.
Aspiring to achieve harmony between humanity and the sea, these complexes not only conserve
typical marine ecosystems, but also promote a transition of the fishery industry from a quantity-
oriented model to a quality-oriented one. They have become a new area of growth for marine
economy with their ability to drive the development of the fishery, leisure, tourism and culture
sectors.
To develop marine ranching complexes is an important measure promoting the transformation and
upgrading of the fishery industry. The complexes have embraced sustainable development thanks
to sci-tech progress which enables fishermen to employ deep-sea net cages, aquaculture platforms
and other techniques.
Huangwo village in Lianyungang, east China’s Jiangsu province once fell into poverty due to
shrinking fishery resources. By establishing a mariculture cooperative and building a nori
processing plant that turned fishermen into farmers, the village has embarked on a new path to
prosperity.
Be it launching well-planned free-range farming of fish and crustaceans, or conducting deep-sea
aquaculture, or developing leisure and tourism sub-industries, modern fishery not only brings
more types of seafood to consumers, but also fosters more areas of growth for the marine
economy.
The gradually maturing model of marine ranching complexes has not only broadened the space for
fishery production, but also optimized the marine ecology in a subtle manner. For instance, the
reduced frequency of inshore fishing nurtures fishery resources, and the decreasing stocking
density in aquaculture is also helping the restoration of environment.
Practices prove that building a fish farming environment that benefits the breeding and growth of
aquatic organisms will help promote the natural propagation and increase of aquatic biological
resources and facilitate the improvement and restoration of the marine ecosystem. It is like
building an “ecological bank” for the sea. Advancing ecological conservation while developing
the fishery industry, these marine ranching complexes will help the fishery sector achieve both
economic and ecological benefits.
As the only major fishery country in the world where aquaculture production exceeds the marine
wild catch, China enjoys huge development potential in the fishery industry. It has an aquaculture
sea area of over 1.2 million square kilometers.
The marine ranching complexes are taken as an important part of the construction of a modern
marine industry system in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and
Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through Year 2035. In the future, the marine
economy will embrace more important periods of development.
