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China accounts for about one-third of the total fish production of the world. According to the FAO statistics, the total fish production in 2005 was 49.5 million tons. Of this total, 65.5% was from aquaculture, an increasing sector, and 34.5% from wild fish caught in rivers, lakes, and the sea.

Aquaculture, the farming of fish in ponds and lakes, accounts for more than half of China's output. China's 2005 reported harvest was 32.4 million tons, more than 10 times that of the second-ranked nation, India, which produced 2.8 million tons. The principal aquaculture-producing regions are close to urban markets in middle and lower Yangtze valley and the Zhu Jiang delta.

China's 2005 reported catch of wild fish was 17.1 million tons, far ahead of the second-ranked nation, the United States, with 4.9 million tons.

Marine fishing grounds

Coastal fisheries

China has a coastline of 14,500 kilometres, and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 877,019 square kilometres. The fishing grounds range from sub-tropical to temperate zones and include 431,000 square kilometres of continental shelves (within 200 meters deep).

There are ongoing disputes with several neighbouring nations over the exact extent of the EEZ in the South China Sea.

The China seas contain about 3000 marine species, of which more than 150 species are fished commercially. Some major marine fishing species in recent times are hairtail, chub mackerel, black scraper (oval filefish or Navodon modestus), anchovy and some species from shrimps, crabs and smaller fishes.

Distant water fisheries

Chinese distant water fishing activities started in 1985. By 1996, these fisheries had extended to more than 60 regions around the world. In that year, they employed 21,200 fishermen, 1381 fishing vessels, and caught 926,500 tons.

Inland fishing grounds

Aquaculture

History

Cormorant fishing

Historically, cormorant fishing has been a significant fishing technique in China. To control the birds, the fishermen tie a snare near the base of the bird's throat. This prevents the birds from swallowing larger fish, which are held in their throat. When a cormorant has caught a fish, the fisherman brings the bird back to the boat and has the bird spit the fish out. Chinese fishermen often employ great cormorants. Though cormorant fishing used to be a successful fishing industry, its primary use today is to serve the tourism industry.In Guilin, China, cormorant birds are famous for fishing on the shallow Lijiang River.

See also

• Chinese bahaba

Notes

1. ^ FAO 1955 statistics
2. CIA factbook: [China
3. Sea Around Us Project: China's EEZ
4. ^ NOAA Central Library: Fishing Industry in China
5. Cormorant Fishing "UKAI". May 2001 version. Retrieved 2008-JAN-30.

References

• FAO: Fisheries and Aquaculture 2005 statistics.
• FAO: Fishery and Aquaculture Profile for China
• FAO: The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2004: Part 3: Scope of the seaweed industry
• China disputes claim it over reports fish catch Associate Press, 17 December 2002.
• Hart PJB and Reynolds JD (2002) Handbook of Fish Biology and Fisheries Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9780632064823

• NOAA Central Library: Importance of the Fishery Industry in China
• Fishing in China New York Times, 25 March 1877.
• Cairns,D (1948) Fishing Industry in China Tuatara, Vol. 1, issue 2.
• Muscolino, M (2008) [http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/13.2/muscolino.html The yellow croaker war: Fishery disputes between China and Japan, 1925–1935 Environmental History 13(2).
• Chinese Cooperation with International Agreements on Oceanic Issues The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, October 1997.

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