Fishing industry in China
China has one-fifth of the world's population and accounts for one-third of the world's reported fish production as well as two-thirds of the world's reported aquaculture production. It is also a major importer of seafood and the country's seafood market is estimated to grow to a market size worth US$53.5 Billion by 2027.
China's continental shelf covers 431,000 km2 (166,000 sq mi) | |
| General characteristics (2004 unless otherwise stated) | |
|---|---|
| Coastline | 14,500 km (9,000 mi) |
| EEZ area | 877,019 km2 (338,619 sq mi) |
| Lake area | 196,000 km2 (76,000 sq mi) (incl reservoirs) |
| River area | 74,550 km2 (28,780 sq mi) |
| Land area | 9,326,410 km2 (3,600,950 sq mi) |
| Employment | 7.9 million persons (2004) |
| Fishing fleet | 220,000 motorised vessels 25,600 vessels greater than 100 gt (2002) Total fleet power 12.7 million kilowatts (17.0×106 hp) |
| Consumption | 25.8 kg (57 lb) fish per capita (2003) |
| Fisheries GDP | US$ 45.9 billion (2004) |
| Export value | US$ 6.6 billion (2004) |
| Import value | US$ 3.1 billion (2004) |
| Harvest (2004 unless otherwise stated) | |
| Wild marine | 14.5 million tonnes (16,000,000 tons) |
| Wild inland marine | 2.4 million tonnes (2,600,000 tons) |
| Wild total | 19.9 million tonnes (21,900,000 tons) |
| Aquaculture total | 32.4 million tonnes (35,700,000 tons) (2005) |
| Fish total | 49.5 million tonnes (54,600,000 tons) (2005) |
China's 2005 reported catch of wild fish, caught in rivers, lakes, and the sea, was 17.1 million tonnes, far ahead of the second-ranked nation, the United States, which reported 4.9 million tonnes. The Chinese commercial fishing fleet is responsible for more illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing than that of any other nation.
Aquaculture, the farming of fish in ponds, lakes and tanks, accounts for two-thirds of China's reported output. China's 2005 reported harvest was 32.4 million tonnes, more than 10 times that of the second-ranked nation, India, which reported 2.8 million tonnes. The country's aquaculture market is forecasted to reach a projected market size of US$177.3 Billion by 2027.
The major aquaculture-producing regions are generally concentrated in the coastal regions, with Guangdong, Shandong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Hubei being the key aquaculture producing provinces in China. China is also increasingly moving into offshore fish farms and has large scale salmon farms in the Yellow Sea as well as planning to build the world's first 100,000-tonne large-scale fish farming vessel by March 2022.