SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

China’s fishery sector plays an important role in ensuring national food security, providing employment opportunities, and contributing to sustainable development. However, in recent years the growing demand for fishery products has intensified the overfishing problem. Correspondingly, policy regulations that restrict commercial fishing have gradually strengthened while China’s fisheries management system has also experienced institutional reforms. Nevertheless, the efficiency and effectiveness of China’s fisheries policy and the law enforcement system are still deficient as fishery resources dramatically decline and conflicts between law enforcers and the fishing population continue to increase.

This study focuses on China’s marine fishery administration and law enforcement, using qualitative and quantitative analysis including literature review, policy research, provincial-level specific analysis, and international comparison to identify existing problems in China’s fishery management system. A fishery management model will be constructed using those factors and a simulation will be performed under the Total Allowable Catch pilot scheme.

It is concluded that the cumbersome bureaucracy, insufficient financial support, untrained personnel, and imperfect legal mechanisms are the outstanding problems in China’s fishery administration and law enforcement system. Policy recommendations are discussed to improve the efficiency of fishery law enforcement, call for more financial and institutional support, and make efforts to balance resource protection and economic development in China’s fishery sector.