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Fisheries subsidies in China: Quantitative and qualitative assessment of policy coherence and effectiveness
Abstract
As the world's largest producer of wild catch, China's fishing activities have a significant impact on the sustainability of not only domestic but also global fish stocks. China also provides substantial subsidies to its fishing operations. In 2013, the Chinese central government spent RMB 40.383 billion (or $6.5 billion) on fisheries subsidies. Most of this amount—94 percent—was in the form of fuel subsidies. This study asked whether China's subsidies policies align with the country's stated goals in fisheries management by examining China's fisheries policy coherence, and found that about 95 percent of Chinese fisheries subsidies were harmful to sustainability.
... They have also highlighted the imbalance in subsidy allocation between large-and small-scale fisheries, with most of the harmful subsidies going to industrial fishing businesses (Schuhbauer et al. 2020;Sumaila et al. 2019Sumaila et al. , 2016. For example, the role of fisheries subsidies in the success of Chinese distant trawler fleets in developing countries in Africa and Asia is a global concern for fisheries management (Belhabib et al. 2015;Mallory 2016). According to Mallory (2016), China spent over $6.5 billion on fisheries subsidies in 2013, 95 percent of which were harmful to sustainability. ...
... For example, the role of fisheries subsidies in the success of Chinese distant trawler fleets in developing countries in Africa and Asia is a global concern for fisheries management (Belhabib et al. 2015;Mallory 2016). According to Mallory (2016), China spent over $6.5 billion on fisheries subsidies in 2013, 95 percent of which were harmful to sustainability. These subsidies, of which 94% are fuel subsidies, are linked to unsustainable fishing practices in developing countries, including overfishing, overcapacity, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing (Mallory 2016). ...
... According to Mallory (2016), China spent over $6.5 billion on fisheries subsidies in 2013, 95 percent of which were harmful to sustainability. These subsidies, of which 94% are fuel subsidies, are linked to unsustainable fishing practices in developing countries, including overfishing, overcapacity, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing (Mallory 2016). ...
The growing focus on the blue economy is accelerating industrial fishing in many parts of the world. This intensification is affecting the livelihoods of small-scale fishers, processors, and traders by depleting local fishery resources, damaging fishing gears, putting fishers' lives at risk, and compromising market systems and value chain positions. In this article, we outline the experiences, perspectives, and narratives of the small-scale fishing actors in Ghana. Drawing on qualitative interview data, we examine the relationship between small-scale and industrial fisheries in Ghana using political ecology and sustainable livelihood approaches. We demonstrate how industrialised, capital-intensive fishing has disrupted the economic and social organisation of local fishing communities, affecting incomes, causing conflicts, social exclusion and disconnection, and compromising the social identity of women. These cumulative impacts and disruptions in Ghana's coastal communities have threatened the viability of small-scale fisheries, yet coastal fishing actors have few capabilities to adapt. We conclude by supporting recommendations to reduce the number and capacity of industrial vessels, strictly enforce spatial regulations, and ensure "blue justice" against marginalisation.
... Coherent policies could reinforce shared policy aims across different government departments and avoid or minimize negative spillovers [20,21]. Policy coherence analysis studies the relationships between different policy domains [22] as well as the instruments and implementation of policies. Policy coherence has different dimensions, including internal (within a policy area), vertical (between different levels of governance), horizontal (with other sectoral policies), and transnational (between national and international policies) [22]. ...
... Policy coherence analysis studies the relationships between different policy domains [22] as well as the instruments and implementation of policies. Policy coherence has different dimensions, including internal (within a policy area), vertical (between different levels of governance), horizontal (with other sectoral policies), and transnational (between national and international policies) [22]. According to Nilsson et al. [23], despite policies being coherent in terms of their objectives, incoherence often occurs with respect to policy instruments and policy implementation practices. ...
... In doing so, it seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the problems arising from trade-offs that occur within multisectoral management in reaching the targets in bioenergy development globally. Furthermore, our study may advance policy analysis scholarship and, in particular, understanding of policy coherence across horizontal and vertical dimensions [22,28] on the rationality and feasibility of ongoing policies in nexus issues, especially for complicated issues with many trade-offs. ...
Promoting crop residue-based bioenergy (CRB) is a strategy for mitigating climate change and ensuring water-energy-food security. Although China has abundant crop residues, CRB is not well developed, and several policy targets are not being reached. These implementation gaps need critical examination as CRB development mainly relies on policy support. This examination provides a framework to assess the feasibility of this policy that covers several cross-cutting issues. By reviewing national policies, this paper analyzes the horizontal coherence of multisectoral CRB policies during the last two decades. Based on 55 semi-structured interviews, conducted with stakeholders, civil servants and experts, we analyzed the vertical coherence among policy implementation to further explore the causes of the limited success of CRB policies. The priority given to the cultivation and livestock sectors (particularly for soil improvement) in crop residue utilization policies and the development of energy policy targets resulted in horizontal policy incoherence. Furthermore, financial limitations were shown to be the most significant obstacle to CRB policy implementation. Successful CRB policy implementation requires a debate about the crop residue utilization for either energy or fertilizer to determine the more sustainable application. Appropriate incentives and increased technological quality of bioenergy projects are also recommended
... The English-language literature on China's role in global seafood production and fishing markets has expanded rapidly in the last decade. Several papers now document the evolution of China's domestic fisheries management policies and present frameworks for reform [15][16][17]2,18]. Others have focused on clarifying the scale and impact of China's extensive distant-water fleet [7,19,20] and the implications for the world's wild fisheries of China's enormous aquaculture sector [21,22]. ...
... China harvests only negligible quantities of whitefish through its domestic and DWF fleets [40]. 18 Nevertheless, whitefish are a major portion of China's seafood trade portfolio; in 2019, 22% (15%) of its aquatic imports by volume (value) were whitefish, yielding 13% of fisheries export revenues. Over 50% of the volume of imported frozen fish (0303), China's largest 4 digit sector by both import and export volume (Fig. A.2), is whitefish. ...
... 17 Appendix B contains a complete listing of the codes included in our definition. 18 This statement was validated by querying FAO production statistics for all species within the ISSCAAP groups for "cod, hakes, haddocks" and "flounders, halibuts, soles" as well as an expanded category including additional species often considered whitefish such as various species of rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and Atka mackerel. 19 The former assumption relies upon a China-specific estimate of the product recovery rate for pollock from head and gutted product to fillets of 71% [14]. ...
This paper examines the changing face of China’s imports of fisheries products from the beginning of its market-oriented growth in the early 1990s to the present. We demonstrate how import demand has evolved by species group and country and examine the implications of these changes for the diversification of China’s sourcing of fisheries products. We also examine how China’s trade partners have changed in terms of governance and IUU risk. Finally, we examine four large product categories in depth to show how changes to underlying trends in domestic consumption, production and demand from export partners have shaped China’s indirect demands on the world’s fishery ecosystems through its imports.
... While no records of subsidization specific to IOTC tuna fleets were available, similar histories of fleet subsidization can be seen in other DWFN. The Chinese government has prioritized the development of its distant water fleet since 1983, implementing capital credit and other fiscal measures, as well as through fuel subsidies (Mallory, 2016). These policies significantly increased the distant water fishing capacity in China, doubling its fleet from around 1,200 vessels in 2012 to 2,500 vessels in 2017 (Yu and Han, 2021). ...
... The capacity to subsidize a fishery at an industrial scale tends to be more prominent in developed States, providing an advantage when compared to the production capacity of non-subsidized fleets of developing States. For some DWFNs, depletion of domestic fish stocks has served as an impetus for fleet expansion, providing subsidies to construct distant water fishing vessels, tax incentives for fuel, and public payments to access waters of developing countries (He, 2015;Mallory, 2016;McCauley et al., 2018). ...
One of the greatest threats to the conservation of transboundary stocks is the failure of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to equitably allocate future fishing opportunities. Across RFMOs, catch history remains the principal criterion for catch allocations, despite being recognized as a critical barrier to governance stability. This paper examines if and how subsidies have driven catch histories, thereby perpetuating the legacy of unfair resource competition between distant water fishing nations (DWFNs) and coastal States, and how this affects ongoing allocation negotiations in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). Using limited publicly available data on subsidies to Indian Ocean tuna fleets, we show that subsidies have inflated catch histories of many DWFN's. As long as historical catch remains the key allocation criterion, future fishing opportunities will continue to be skewed in favor of DWFNs, in turn marginalizing half of the IOTC member States, which collectively account for a paltry 4% of the current catch. Without better transparency in past subsidies data, accounting for this distortion will be difficult. We provide alternative allocation options for consideration, with our analysis showing that re-attributing DWFN catch to the coastal State in whose waters it was caught may begin to alleviate this historical injustice.
... A rapid reduction in the catch control under 0.5 F msy scenario would expect to achieve a quick recovery with B/B msy over 1 in 2025. Nevertheless, a significant reduction in production would lead to the decline of fishery economics, livelihood difficulties for fishermen and a series of derivative social problems 28 . An alternative of 1.0 F msy would be feasible, under which B/B msy could rise to 1 by 2030 with a production of 11.64 MT, close to MSY. ...
... Another system "Double Control" aims to limit both the numbers of fishing vessels and the total power. Unfortunately, the inspections of fishing vessels and their power are not very strict, due to the need of developing local economy and guaranteeing the fishermen's income, e.g., under a nominal power mask the low-power engines have been replaced by high-power engines, some fishing vessels do not have 28 . The limitation of the license number and engine power also stimulate the technological improvement for more catch 7 . ...
China remains the largest nation of marine capture fisheries in the world in the last few decades, at the cost of offshore fisheries degradation by overfishing. Although fisheries regulations have become gradually tightened, the recovering evidences are weak and the catch species compositions are far from satisfactory. To explore better and reasonable countermeasures, besides the “zero growth” policy (i.e. the national total fisheries production limitation), five targets with different ecological traits were selected for stock assessment and rebuilding by Monte Carlo Catch-Maximum Sustainable Yield method. The results showed the control of total rather than species catch could not lead to the recovery of fisheries and maintain community function. Individual species showed different responses to overfishing according to their biological characteristics. High trophic level species can be sensitive to overfishing, and difficult to rebuild stocks after collapse. Pelagic small fish resources increased first but eventually decreased under high fishing pressure. Scientific-based restocking can enhance resource recovery. Besides “zero growth” policy, fisheries management should be further refined, in particular for main economic species based on their biological traits, as well as the support of reliable fisheries statistics and regulation implementation in place. To relieve the conflict between rising fishery products demand and falling catches, aquaculture and seeking resources from the high seas and EEZs are supposed to be successful ways, on the premise of taking full account of ecological health, maritime safety, and food security.
... Particularly, relevant studies pointed out remarkable signs of decline, such as the decrease in trophic level, individual size, and the proportion of economically valuable fish (Cao et al., 2017;Su et al., 2020). These changes imply a reduced revenue for fishermen even if the total catches remain stable, leaving out the increasing labor and fuel costs in fishing activities (Mallory, 2016). Consequently, fishermen are expected to be less active in fishing, in a sense that they choose to work in most promising fishing season (or month) and nearshore fishing grounds to balance cost. ...
... The fishermen did not exit from fisheries either, as we could still detect the large volume of fishing efforts in China Seas. The reason for the insistent and stable fishing efforts may be complex, involving sunk cost, cultural and societal adhesiveness (Reed et al., 2013), and the need to engage in fishing to receive fuel subsidies (fishing remains marginally profitable after accounting for government subsidies) (Mallory, 2016). A notable exception is found in 2020 when the number of active fishing vessels dropped sharply, which is assumed to attribute to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (Bennett et al., 2020;March et al., 2021). ...
Monitoring fishing activities is crucial for marine conservation but challenging in practice, because the ability in tracking fisheries has been limited on varying spatial and temporal scales. The challenge is for both developed and developing countries, and is outstanding in China which is characterized by the world's largest fishing fleet. The advance of Automatic Identification System (AIS) provides the opportunity to enforce monitoring and to promote the compliance of responsible fisheries. Here, the dynamics of fishing fleets in China Seas were integrally investigated for the first time. We demonstrated heavy fishing efforts widely distributed across China Seas, whereas most vessels were concentrated along the coastal line. The temporal pattern of fishing efforts was dominated by summer moratorium, and intensive fishing occurred immediately before and after the moratorium. We highlight that most fishing activities occurred in a remarkably limited spatial and temporal scope, particularly trawling vessels which spent a few months on fishing every year and covered a small geographical area. Additionally, considerable fishing efforts have transferred from Eastern China Sea to the coastal areas of south China in response to an extension of summer moratorium, which requires the fishing moratorium beginning one month earlier since 2017. We argue that summer moratorium cannot effectively control overall fishing efforts, but rearrange the same level of efforts in space and time. We highlight caveats in the interpretation of AIS data in terms of reception issues, meanwhile the novel information provided by AIS can refine the understanding of fleet dynamics and contribute to adaptive fisheries management over broad spatial and temporal scales.
... The capacity and geographical scope of industrial fishing has increased dramatically since the 1950s [1,2], driven by the overexploitation of domestic coastal waters [2,3], increasing global demand for seafood [4], rapid technological innovation [1,5,6], and rampant supply of government subsidies [7][8][9][10][11]. However, this expansion has been highly unequal, dominated by a few wealthy countries [1,[12][13][14], and corporate actors [15][16][17]. ...
Distant-water fishing (DWF) refers to fishing operations conducted by companies in waters beyond their national exclusive economic zones (EEZs), often targeting the EEZs of other coastal states or international waters. Research on DWF typically emphasizes the flag states of vessels, rather than the nationalities of the corporations that own them, despite evidence of efforts to obscure ownership. This paper examines the corporate owners of 1648 industrial and semi-industrial tuna fishing vessels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) using Orbis data, analyzing ownership at three levels: flag state, direct corporate owners, and ultimate corporate owners. Results show that flag state data alone understate the true fishing capacity of key DWF nations. Shifts in ownership nationality across levels are significant, notably for Taiwanese and Spanish corporations owning vessels through proxies in the Global South. These ownership shifts impact 6 % of vessels and 14 % of gross tonnage in the registered EPO tuna fleet. Furthermore, spatial analysis using Global Fishing Watch data highlights the Galapagos Islands EEZ as a critical fishing zone, frequently accessed by foreign fishing corporations through Ecuadorian intermediaries. This study underscores the need to incorporate ownership data into fisheries governance for greater transparency and accountability. The systematic collection and analysis of ownership data would allow fisheries managers to better monitor capacity, address power concentration, and promote policies that ensure fairer distribution of resources and benefits.
... Understanding the stock exploited status is essential for effective management strategies, resource recovery and biodiversity conservation [18,19] through stock assessment [20]. Fisheries stock assessment can provide scientific and quantitative evaluation of population conditions to guide fisheries management [21], many depleted populations have been restored under scientific management strategies based on fisheries resources assessment [22]. Due to the limited quality or quantity of data, nearly 50 % of fish stocks have not been assessed globally [23,24]. ...
... In addition, regarding China's fisheries, marine fisheries [9,11] have received more attention than inland fisheries [12], and capture fisheries [13,14] more than aquaculture [15,16]. Most previous research has focused on qualitative [17,18] analyses of management policies, with few studies providing quantitative insights [19]. To address these gaps, this study analyzes China's fishery inputs (effort) and outputs (production) in response to various management measures over the past 40 years, employing both qualitative and quantitative insights, and offers a comprehensive view of the effectiveness of these policies in promoting sustainable fisheries. ...
As the world’s largest producer of fish, China has faced significant challenges in developing its fisheries. Over the past four decades, China has implemented and adjusted multiple regulations and measures to reverse the decline of aquatic resources and achieve sustainable fisheries. This study analyzes the production trends and efforts during the period 1980–2019, highlighting the key features of and structural shifts in China’s fisheries. Our results reveal a significant shift in seafood production from capture to aquaculture and from offshore to inshore waters. Moreover, China’s fishery policy has transitioned from resource exploitation to ecological conservation, with aquaculture production in 2019 being nearly 38 times higher than that in 1980. However, not all the management measures have been successful; for example, the “Dual Control” policy failed to achieve its goals. Despite this, some measures that require adjustments, such as the “Aquatic Germplasm Resource Reserves” and “Nature Reserve for Aquatic Animals and Plants” policies, show promise for further improving the sustainability of China’s fisheries, particularly if the focus is on marine resources.
... Studies that examine fisheries subsidies and their impacts are generally conducted at a global scale 8,[25][26][27] , or are specific to regional fisheries or individual countries [28][29][30] . This dearth of intermediate-scale ocean basin studies exists despite such largescale regional studies permitting a more nuanced examination of the impacts of these subsidies compared to global studies. ...
Harmful, capacity-enhancing subsidies distort fishing activities and lead to overfishing and perverse outcomes for food security and conservation. We investigated the provision and spatial distribution of fisheries subsidies in the Indian Ocean. Total fisheries subsidies in the Indian Ocean, estimated at USD 3.2 billion in 2018, were mostly harmful subsidies (60%), provided to the large-scale industrial sector by mainly a few subsidising countries, including Distant Water Fishing countries. We also explored possible socio-economic drivers of the composition of subsidies, and show that the extent of harmful subsidies provided by Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries to their industrial sector can be predicted by the seafood export quantities of these countries. These results illustrate the inequity in accessing fisheries resources for the small-scale sector of nutrient insecure and ocean-dependant IOR countries. The present study can benchmark future assessments and implementation of fisheries subsidy disciplines in the region following the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
... For the most part, studies on the effects of endowments and sponsorships were conducted from a subjective perspective. Mallory [1] pondered the origins and outcomes of Chinese government fishery sponsorships and the effects of government spending on fisheries. Lihua and Liyan [2] studied the green building market's award performance under four different government sponsorship arrangements. ...
The main objective of this research is the water redistribution supply network project, which includes the water transportation company and the water work. The innovative regulatory accounting approach is used to build non-cooperative and helpful game models under government endowments. Different levels and types of government subsidies were then considered in terms of water availability, estimation, and benefit-sharing. Results reveal that water supply and price increase in cycles with the number of sponsors, while the cost of water work falls as sponsorships increase. Despite this, the cost of the water plant remained the same while sponsorship levels remained stable. Although the worth of the water transportation company fluctuates, the more endowments it receives when its value is lower. The appropriateness of the proposed game model was illustrated in the Nile Waterway Water Redirection Task.
... Although some governments have attempted to reduce subsidies in recent years to incentivize some fishers to leave the industry, the complexity of subsidy policies means that even though governments may implement changes with an eye to sustainability, policy incoherence can limit overall progress (Yi 2018). For example, although China has made sustainability-related changes in its national fisheries policies, continued support for its distant water fishing industry leads to unsustainable practices in the EEZs of other countries, including in the South China Sea (Mallory 2016). ...
What factors have driven the dramatic depletion of fishery resources in the South China Sea, and how have states responded? This article demonstrates that a complex mix of political, economic, and security drivers has led to the fishing crisis in the South China Sea in the fashion of a classic “tragedy of the commons.” Although states have attempted to solve this problem by cooperating through bilateral, regional, and international arrangements, the article argues that states have also sought to exploit the situation as part of “hybrid” or “gray zone” strategies that blur the lines between private and public actors and between law enforcement and military activities. It identifies four mechanisms through which the conditions associated with the tragedy of the commons enable states to put fishers and fishing regulation on the frontlines of defending their territorial claims in the South China Sea.
... We recommend taking broader consideration of investments on exploitative activities, as many of them may offset conservation benefits, to enable holistic and strategic planning. For example, China's fisheries subsidies totaled $6.5 billion in 2013, but 95% of that was found to be harmful to sustainability [17]. In early 2022, two provinces announced cutting off fisheries subsidies and replacing them with new subsidies to incentivize fisheries resources conservation [28]. ...
The 15th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP-15) offers a critical and timely opportunity for world leaders to set out transformative actions to halt biodiversity loss for the coming decade and beyond. One prominent agreement coming from the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is protecting 30% of global oceans by 2030 (Ocean 30 ×30). With the presidential role of COP-15 and its vast ocean uses, the leadership and commitment of China is instrumental to achieving a global target on marine conservation. However, the pathways to China’s realization of the 30 × 30 goal remain unclear. Here, we use the country’s newest domestic agenda on marine conservation, which was released between the first and second half of COP-15, to shed light on (1) how its domestic policy may reflect China’s next steps on the global initiative and (2) how the Ocean 30 × 30 goal could advance the country’s plan to tackle its own marine conservation challenges. The policy analysis helps delineate the connections and gaps between the global and domestic goals, and provides recommendations for China to advance its ongoing marine protected area reform within the context of the 30 × 30 target.
... This policy better protects some ecologically sensitive areas but also presents social and economic challenges, as it can displace livelihoods . Challenges in marine environmental governance also remain, including pollution, overfishing, subsidies, implementation and enforcement, and varied levels of government capacity (Zhang et al. 2016;Cao et al. 2017;Mallory 2016). ...
People across the world have diverse economic, sociolegal, institutional, social and cultural relationships with the ocean—both its littoral zones and the open sea spaces through which people have traditionally navigated, migrated, fished, traded, played and sought solace, spiritual enlightenment, adventure, material enrichment, social identity, cultural expression, artistic inspiration or good health. These relationships are reflected in formal and informal institutions (polices, laws, social norms) that regulate many of these activities, including those that regulate access to resources. These institutions represent a series of prior claims and rights to the use and enjoyment of the ocean by coastal and maritime societies.
... One of the biggest causes of excess capacities is government grants or subsidies with many of the Asian fleets largely subsidized for fuel. For example, the government has subsidized the Chinese fleet, which has over one million vessels, for up to 6.5 billion US dollars in 2013, of which~94% was in the form of fuel (Mallory, 2016). However, 4 million tonnes of China domestic catch are lowvalue fish for non-human consumption that are used primarily as fish feed for the expanding aquaculture industry (Greenpeace, 2017). ...
There is an urgent need to assess the extent to which the global fishing enterprise can be sustainable in the face of climate change. Artisanal fishing plays a crucial role in sustaining livelihoods and meeting food security demands in coastal countries. Yet, the ability of the artisanal sector to do so not only depends on the economic efficiency of the fleets, but also on the changing productivity and distribution of target species under rapid climate change in the oceans. These impacts are already leading to sudden declines, long-term collapses in production, or increases in the price of fish products, which can further exacerbate excess levels of fishing capacity. We examined historical changes (1950-2014) in technical efficiency within the global artisanal fishing fleets in relation to sea surface temperature anomalies, market prices by taxonomic group, and fuel costs. We show that temperature anomalies affected countries differently; while some have enhanced production from an increase in the resource distribution, which alter the structure of the ecosystem, others have had to adapt to the negative impacts of seawater warming. In addition, efficiency decreases are also related to rises in global marine fish price, whereby more labour and capital are attracted into the fishery, which in turn can lead to an excess in fleet capacity. Our results contribute to the understanding of how the effects of climate-induced change in the oceans could potentially affect the efficiency of artisanal fishing fleets.
... This occurs when the balance of policies is aligned with a common goal or set of intentions (Jacob et al., 2019). Incoherent policies hinder policy effectiveness by creating negative spill-over effects (Hochstetler, 2021b;Mallory, 2016;OECD, 2016). For example, policies to promote renewable energies may conflict with policies to preserve/increase carbon sinks such as forests and grassland due to competition for land use. ...
The Paris Agreement's regular review process, known as the Global Stocktake (GST), is set to occur in 2023, and it serves as a critical evaluation of global progress. However, crucial gaps need to be addressed to effectively enhance collect efforts for climate mitigation through this process. While technoeconomic information forms a concrete foundation for the GST, it inadequately addresses the political economy dimensions that are key to driving transformative change and determining Parties' additional progress potential. This working paper aims to bridge this gap by proposing a set of indicators for political economy progress, including five dimensions and 16 indicators, evaluating their measurability based on reviewed data sources. The paper emphasizes the importance of a more comprehensive approach to the Global Stocktake and provides a roadmap for future research to better understand climate mitigation progress and challenges.
... The Chinese state has more control over its DWF industry for geopolitical purposes than other DWF countries, in part because of this history of state ownership. While it is challenging for any country to implement regulations in distant waters, and vessels may shift to flags of convenience to escape heavy regulation, Beijing exercises its control through regulatory and financial means, including fuel subsidies (Mallory 2016) and local infrastructure such as port facilities (Pauly et al. 2014). This extensive government support indicates China's vested interests in, and some control over, the DWF industry. ...
As a significant actor in global governance, China has become increasingly active in addressing global environmental challenges. However, Chinese fishing practices do not conform with its policies. How do we understand China's apparently incoherent stance? Using the case of illegal, unreported, and unre-gulated (IUU) fishing governance, we explore why China shifted its approach from reluctance to engagement while still allowing the Chinese fleet's IUU fishing activities to some extent. We find that China safeguards its self-interest by shaping domestic and international rules on anti-IUU fishing while pursuing means of legitimising its actions and intangible aspects of power in the oceans. Our findings have far-reaching implications. First, China's notion of environmental responsibility is likely to remain within the scope of its interests and what China can control. Second, China's global environmental approach can be understood as the pursuit of intangible aspects of great power status in addition to its tangible interests.
... China loses millions of tons of potential catch annually due to overfishing (Mallory, 2016) and has now taken measures to control this excess fishing effort. We used three models to evaluate the present status of P. indicus stocks in the Bohai and Yellow Seas and reported each to provide valuable information regarding these data-poor stocks. ...
We applied Catch and Maximum Sustainable Yield (CMSY), Bayesian Schaefer model (BSM), and Abundance Maximum Sustainable Yield (AMSY) methods to estimate the status of Platycephalus indicus stocks in the Bohai and Yellow Seas, assessed model performance, and determined the impact of priors derived from expert knowledge on the performance of each model. Results showed that P. indicus stock in the Bohai Sea had collapsed, while that in the Yellow Sea stock was recovering. With the input of an expert prior derived from the length-based Bayesian biomass (LBB) estimation method, the CIs of each model narrowed, but the changes in biomass trajectory were not significant, and the estimates of B/BMSY were differed compared with model results using default rules. These three models can be used to evaluate data-limited stocks to reflect stock dynamics when reliable inputs are available. However, the ranges of priors, which are preferably obtained from other stock assessment tools, should be carefully established.
... Still, optimizing economic output remained the priority amidst China's drive for development during this phase, but concerns about the protection and enhancement of coastal fisheries resources began to emerge in the national fisheries-related government documentation (Ferraro & Brans, 2012 More fisheries subsidies have been issued to encourage and support fishers to fish farther from the Chinese shores (Mallory, 2016). ...
Sustainable fisheries management requires decisions to be made based on sound science. To help ensure this, a Science-Based Fisheries Management (SBFM) system should be established to produce the best available science (BAS) and to ensure that the BAS forms the basis of decision-making. The goal of this dissertation is to look at how China, the world’s largest marine fisheries country, might build an effective SBFM system to enable its marine fisheries to attain sustainability. Studies were conducted to answer the following guiding questions: 1) what is SBFM? 2) why is it necessary for China to deploy SBFM? 3) what are China’s challenges, roadblocks, and opportunities in implementing SBFM?, and 4) how to overcome the obstacles by reforming China’s fisheries system. This dissertation is structured into four chapters. An extensive literature review was conducted in Chapter 1 to determine the concept and enablers of SBFM in the world. A framework that included a thorough set of criteria and a basic operational structure for SBFM was given. The evolution of China’s marine fisheries management practices from 1949 to 2019 was examined in Chapter 2 based on a comprehensive literature review and the researcher’s observations in meetings and conversations with Chinese fisheries experts. This Chapter provides materials to help people better understand the features and trends of China’s marine fisheries policies, as well as the characteristics of its marine capture fisheries. The study indicated that China’s sustainable marine fisheries management faces numerous challenges and hurdles, the majority of which are associated with SBFM - inefficient science-policy interactions and data shortages. The checklist of SBFM criteria defined in Chapter 1 was used in Chapter 3 to analyze China’s marine fisheries management system from a system engineering perspective. The benefits and drawbacks of the system for implementing SBFM were examined. Finally, in Chapter 4, the advantages and disadvantages of China’s marine fisheries management system were summarized, and recommendations for China’s marine fisheries reform with the goal of constructing a more successful SBFM were provided. This dissertation concluded that 1) China’s sustainable marine fisheries management cannot succeed without institutional reforms to support stronger science and its integration into fisheries policymaking; 2) reforming the fisheries management system from the perspective of system engineering can be an effective way to promote the production of better BAS and its use in policies; and, 3) use of the SBFM framework developed in this study can help China evaluate and reform its marine fisheries legal and institutional framework, and at the same time leverage the localized TAC pilot programs to develop and test a structured approach for SBFM. With the expansion of TAC pilots, the approach can be revised accordingly and finally inform the development and implementation of SBFM at large.
... However, the magnitude of the increase was small, and the fishery fuel subsidies increased the fishing amount while also promoting the development of fishing technology [16]. Mallory and Grace (2016) believed that 95% of China s fishery subsidies are not conducive to the sustainable development of fisheries [17]. Skerritt et al. (2020) examined the last 20 years of subsidies provided to the fisheries sector by the EU, from their viewpoint, the changes had partly occurred as a result of the removal of certain capacity-enhancing subsidies and partly due to additional funds being allocated to beneficial forms of public funding [18]. ...
Controversies surrounding fishery subsidy policies are widespread. Many stakeholders believe that fishery subsidies play an important role in ensuring the livelihood of fishermen. At the same time, fishery subsidies pose a threat to the stock of fishery resources and affect the sustainable development of fisheries. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China from 2007 to 2017, the article empirically examines the influence of fishery subsidies on fishing. The results of the study show that China′s fishery subsidies are negatively correlated with fishing. On average, for each 1% increase in fishery subsidies, fishing will decrease by 2.9%. That is to say, in general, fishery subsidies are conducive to the sustainable development of fisheries. The results of heterogeneity analysis based on geographic location and economic development level show that fishery subsidies do not have a palpable negative influence on fishing in coastal areas or developed regions, whereas have an obvious adverse influence on fishing in inland areas or underdeveloped regions. The deterioration of the fishing environment and the natural environment explains the occurrence of this differentiation.
... On the one hand, fisheries resource decline may decrease fishing effort due to increased costs and reduced catch. On the other hand, available fuel subsidies and growing market demand (i.e., price incentives) can incentivize fishermen to take more fishing trips amidst a declining resource (Mallory, 2016). Such behaviors certainly introduce uncertainty into the effectiveness of the Chinese seasonal fishing closure, "double control", and fishing license systems. ...
Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) play a vital role in the sustainability of local economies. Migratory species moving into and out of an ecosystem may influence the dynamics of local fish communities and SSFs. We used the end-to-end model, OSMOSE-JZB (Object-oriented Simulator of Marine ecOSystEms), to evaluate the impacts of fishing and a migratory shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris) on the ecosystem of Jiaozhou Bay, China. Increased fishing intensity (i.e., annual fishing effort) resulted in the decline of four ecological indicators, including the total biomass of the community, mean trophic level of the community, inverse fishing pressure, and large fish index. Compared to managing fish stocks under uniform fishing mortality over the fishing season, landings and community biomass were higher when a "race to fish" (i.e., large catches in a short period) occurred. The results suggested that managing fishing seasonality (i.e., temporal allocation of fishing effort) could mitigate the negative impact of fishing intensity. Two resident high-trophic-level fishes were sensitive to changes in fishing intensity and fishing seasonality. The changes in trophic interactions had larger impacts on species at low trophic levels than fishing. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that T. curvirostris biomass was negatively correlated with the biomass of resident species and positively correlated with the biomass of other migratory species. We also found that fishing changed the impact of varying T. curvirostris migratory biomass on other species. Resident species were more sensitive to changes in fishing and T. curvirostris migratory biomass than other migratory species. We argue that SSFs management can benefit from the development of temporal fishing strategies and consideration of trophic interactions stemming from migratory species dynamics.
... In the 2000s, China's growing DWF fleet operated in the EEZs of over 90 countries worldwide (Pauly et al., 2014). As of 2014, China's estimated DWF fleet encompassed nearly 4,000 vessels and is supported by a number of government tax relief policies and subsidies (for comparison, the USA's DWF fleet consists of roughly 200 ships (Mallory, 2013(Mallory, , 2016). It is possible that China has increasingly experienced conflicts because of the geographic expansion of their DWF vessels, even operating in foreign EEZs such as those of Japan and South Korea, to maintain their catches (Pauly et al., 2014). ...
Marine capture fishery resources are declining, and demand for them is rising. These trends are suspected to incite conflict, but their effects have not been quantitatively examined. We applied a multi‐model ensemble approach to a global database of international fishery conflicts between 1974 and 2016 to test the supply‐induced scarcity hypothesis (diminishing supplies of fishery resources increase fisheries conflict), the demand‐induced scarcity hypothesis (rising demand for fishery resources increases fisheries conflict), and three alternative political and economic hypotheses. While no single indicator was able to fully explain international conflict over fishery resources, we found a positive relationship between increased conflict over fishery resources and higher levels of per capita GDP for the period 1975–1996. For the period 1997–2016, we found evidence supporting the demand‐induced scarcity hypothesis, and the notion that an increase in supply of fishery resources is linked to an increase in conflict occurrence. By identifying significant predictors of international fisheries conflict, our analysis provides useful information for policy approaches for conflict anticipation and management.
... Whilst there is no universally agreed definition of PC, it is said to lead to policy stability and reduced policy failure (Howlett and Rayner 2007). Policy incoherence causes coordination and implementation problems (Cohen et al. 2017) and leads to an inefficient usage of resources (Mallory 2016). Consistency within sector-specific policies and plans is a precondition of PC (Voyer et al. 2020). ...
Climate Change (CC) adaptation and mitigation policy coherence (PC) across sectors is essential to effectively address CC challenges and support synergies. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to CC. In this paper, the extent to which Pakistan’s national and provincial water, agriculture, and energy sector policies, development plans and strategies are aligned in a CC policy coherent manner is established. In this context, a qualitative content document analysis with associated scoring is used to assess government documents. Furthermore, implications of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor Initiative (CPEC; 2017–2030), the biggest infrastructure investment program ever in Pakistan, are discussed. An important result is that sectoral policies are found to have different degrees of PC. Better coherence is found at federal than at provincial levels. Furthermore, CC policies are found to be more coherently addressed in water and agriculture policies than in energy policies. It is suggested that to achieve higher levels of CC PC, federal and provincial governments should establish mechanisms of intergovernmental consultation for policy-making and cross-sectoral planning, especially in the energy sector. Our findings can help the Government of Pakistan to transform CPEC into a model green Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region. In this context, there are important implications with regards to e.g., reducing coal-based energy projects and environmentally damaging infrastructure activities in sensitive ecosystems. With this paper, the authors want to raise awareness of the key importance of CC PC, particular in context of the BRI. Many countries participating in the initiative have carbon reduction targets in place.
... Whilst there is no universally agreed definition of PC, it is said to lead to policy stability and reduced policy failure (Howlett and Rayner 2007). Policy incoherence causes coordination and implementation problems (Cohen et al. 2017) and leads to an inefficient usage of resources (Mallory 2016). Consistency within sector-specific policies and plans is a precondition of PC (Voyer et al. 2020). ...
Climate Change (CC) adaptation and mitigation policy coherence (PC) across sectors is essential to effectively address CC challenges and support synergies. Pakistan is highly vulnerable to CC. In this paper, the extent to which Pakistan's national and provincial water, agriculture, and energy sector policies, development plans and strategies are aligned in a CC policy coherent manner is established. In this context, a qualitative content document analysis with associated scoring is used to assess government documents. Furthermore, implications of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Initiative (CPEC; 2017-2030), the biggest infrastructure investment program ever in Pakistan, are discussed. An important result is that sectoral policies are found to have different degrees of PC. Better coherence is found at federal than at provincial levels. Furthermore, CC policies are found to be more coherently addressed in water and agriculture policies than in energy policies. It is suggested that to achieve higher levels of CC PC, federal and provincial governments should establish mechanisms of intergovernmental consultation for policy-making and cross-sectoral planning, especially in the energy sector. Our findings can help the Government of Pakistan to transform CPEC into a model green Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region. In this context, there are important implications with regards to e.g., reducing coal-based energy projects and environmentally damaging infrastructure activities in sensitive ecosystems. With this paper, the authors want to raise awareness of the key importance of CC PC, particular in context of the BRI. Many countries participating in the initiative have carbon reduction targets in place.
... Indeed, China ranks as the world's leading fishing nation, accounting for about one-fifth of the global marine catch, of which over 85% is caught domestically (Normile 2017; Fisheries Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs 2019). Accordingly, studying the development of Chinese marine capture fisheries is germane to gaining a global understanding of the future of wild fish stocks and consequent food security challenges (Blomeyer et al. 2012;Mallory 2016;Szuwalski et al. 2020). ...
China (herein referred as China’s mainland, and excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) is the largest contributor to global seafood production. While China’s marine fisheries have been extensively documented, there is a gap in systematically quantifying production of its marine fisheries and the different challenges confronting them at provincial level. We addressed this gap in spatial detail by providing a review that compares and contrasts China’s fisheries exploitation history both at national and provincial levels based on official statistical data. We expanded upon this to explore aspects of bio-socio-economic challenges faced by the country’s 11 fishing provinces. Our analysis suggested that significant increases in domestic marine catches in China has been accompanied by escalating fishing power which has had differential impacts at provincial scale. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) sharply declined at both national and provincial scales, and many traditionally targeted demersal fish stocks showed clear downward trends in terms of catches. The 11 fishing provinces in China can be grouped into four clusters with distinct biological, social and economic attributes. Targeted measures are recommended accordingly when implementing fisheries management measures for each specific fishing province in order to deliver an overall improvement in the sustainability of China’s marine fisheries.
... In conclusion, most stocks we studied have biomasses that are much lower than B MSY , i.e., the biomass associated with MSY. Thus, China loses millions of tonnes every year of potential catch to overfishing, and huge sums in the form of subsidies to fisheries that exploit overfished coastal stocks (Mallory, 2016). Although mariculture and the release of juveniles are maintaining several stocks, this is not a sustainable proposition; also, these measures lead to genetic diversity losses (Wang et al., 2012). ...
Sixteen marine fish species (populations) exploited by Chinese fisheries were assessed, using published time series of catch and the CMSY and BSM methods. Given the catch times series as inputs, some ancillary information and reasonable constraints, carrying capacity, maximum sustainable yield, and likely time series of biomass and exploitation rate were estimated. The results show that one (7%) of the assessed species was severely depleted, four species (27%) were fully/overfished, six (40%) were outside of safe biological limits, one species (7%) was recovering and three species (20%) were in a healthy state at the end year of their assessment. However, one species, Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), could not be assessed using CMSY, as the exceedingly large fluctuations of its biomass were mainly environmentally driven. These results correspond with previous knowledge on the status of fish populations along the coast of China, where overfishing is rampant. Based on these assessments, some of the benefits that would result from a reduction of the excessive fishing effort are outlined.
... However, the rapidity of inland fisheries development has resulted in serious resource degradation and associated environmental problems (Liu and Diamond 2005;Gui et al. 2018). In wild capture fisheries, longterm overfishing has led to the depletion of natural fish resources (Mallory 2016), increased the degree of endangerment of rare and threatened species (Allan et al. 2005;MEP-PRC and CAS 2015;Xing et al. 2016) (Fig. 3), and forced fishermen into poverty. Aquaculture development has been accompanied by many problems (Cheng and Hu 2011;Gui et al. 2018), including (1) deterioration of regional water quality arising from densely stocked cages, installation of fences and use of purse seines; (2) weakened resilience to risks due to inadequate organization and coordination of activities; (3) inferior quality and safety of feed and chemicals; (4) relatively low incomes of fishermen; (5) genetic decline after several generations; and (5) increased potential for biological invasions from exotic species being cultured. ...
China is unique among nations on account of its rich aquatic biodiversity (1443 inland fish species comprising 10% of those worldwide), status as the world’s largest producer (50%) of inland fish, and recent history of significant disruption of natural ecosystems. Ecological Civilization, a policy increasingly advocated in China since 2015, provides a strong platform to protect aquatic ecosystems and restore biodiversity in inland waters. We reviewed processes, policies, and outcomes related to inland fisheries and aquatic biodiversity during the 70 years since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Particular focus was on recent transformations in inland fisheries development and protection of inland aquatic biodiversity (IAB) under the goals of China’s recent Ecological Civilization policy. We describe how Chinese inland fisheries have undergone three transformative historical phases, (1) rapid development, (2) over-exploitation, and (3) vigorous protection. A series of newly introduced policies and programs hold promise for rehabilitating IAB. Global implications are considered by comparison with many of the world’s major river basins. We highlight the challenge of balancing fisheries development with biodiversity conservation; avoiding incidental adverse effects on conservation; rationalizing development under protection; eliminating gaps between protected areas, averting extinction and restoring endangered species; and integrating protection in managing watershed ecosystems. In the context of the global decline in freshwater biodiversity, the 70 years of fisheries development and biodiversity conservation in Chinese inland waters serve as a leading example for global IAB.
... However, the rapidity of inland fisheries development has resulted in serious resource degradation and associated environmental problems (Liu and Diamond 2005;Gui et al. 2018). In wild capture fisheries, longterm overfishing has led to the depletion of natural fish resources (Mallory 2016), increased the degree of endangerment of rare and threatened species (Allan et al. 2005;MEP-PRC and CAS 2015;Xing et al. 2016) (Fig. 3), and forced fishermen into poverty. Aquaculture development has been accompanied by many problems (Cheng and Hu 2011;Gui et al. 2018), including (1) deterioration of regional water quality arising from densely stocked cages, installation of fences and use of purse seines; (2) weakened resilience to risks due to inadequate organization and coordination of activities; (3) inferior quality and safety of feed and chemicals; (4) relatively low incomes of fishermen; (5) genetic decline after several generations; and (5) increased potential for biological invasions from exotic species being cultured. ...
China is unique among nations on account of its rich aquatic biodiversity (1443 inland fish species comprising 10% of those worldwide), status as the world’s largest producer (50%) of inland fish, and recent history of significant disruption of natural ecosystems. Ecological Civilization, a policy increasingly advocated in China since 2015, provides a strong platform to protect aquatic ecosystems and restore biodiversity in inland waters. We reviewed processes, policies, and outcomes related to inland fisheries and aquatic biodiversity during the 70 years since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Particular focus was on recent transformations in inland fisheries development and protection of inland aquatic biodiversity (IAB) under the goals of China’s recent Ecological Civilization policy. We describe how Chinese inland fisheries have undergone three transformative historical phases, i) rapid development, ii) over-exploitation, and iii) vigorous protection. A series of newly introduced policies and programs hold promise for rehabilitating IAB. Global implications are considered by comparison with many of the world’s major river basins. We highlight the challenge of balancing fisheries development with biodiversity conservation; avoiding incidental adverse effects on conservation; rationalizing development under protection; eliminating gaps between protected areas, averting extinction and restoring endangered species; and integrating protection in managing watershed ecosystems. In the context of the global decline in freshwater biodiversity, the 70 years of fisheries development and biodiversity conservation in Chinese inland waters serve as a leading example for global IAB.
... This policy better protects some ecologically sensitive areas but also presents social and economic challenges, as it can displace livelihoods . Challenges in marine environmental governance also remain, including pollution, overfishing, subsidies, implementation and enforcement, and varied levels of government capacity (Zhang et al. 2016;Cao et al. 2017;Mallory 2016). ...
Through a historical lens, this paper illustrates the differing economic, legal, institutional, social and cultural relationships people of varying cultures have with the ocean.
Focusing on the institutions that affect access and rights, this paper addresses concerns about the appropriation of marine resources and displacement of indigenous visions for ocean governance by identifying ways in which these culturally distinct institutions are compatible and charting a path toward inclusive ocean governance.
The implementation of the “Blue Basic Farmland” system for farming ocean is a crucial strategy to ensure food security. This study simulates and analyzes the impact of government fishery subsidies on promoting “Blue Basic Farmland” construction. A tripartite evolutionary game model involving the government, fishermen and fishery enterprises was used”. Subsequently, the fishery subsidy strategy of “Blue Basic Farmland” construction was simulated and analyzed. The following findings are derived. First, fishery subsidies contributed to “Blue Basic Farmland” construction by promoting the participation of fishing enterprises and supporting fishermen. Second, the amounts of fishery subsidies were not the high the better, and different amounts of fishery subsidies had varying effects. Third, subsidizing fishery enterprises was more effective in promoting the construction of “Blue Basic Farmland” compared to subsidizing fishermen. In light of these findings, we proposed the following policy recommendations. The government ought to establish subsidies specifically tailored for “Blue Basic Farmland” construction, while also judiciously controlling the subsidies amounts. Moreover, the focus of these subsidies should be directed towards supporting fishery enterprises.
Examining the twenty years since China acceded to the World Trade Organization, this collection provides an original, systematic assessment of the opportunities and challenges that China has presented to the WTO. Offering in-depth analyses of the 'two-way' relationship between China and the WTO, the contributions explore a range of key issues from the varied effects of WTO membership for China and the global economy to the responses of the WTO members to China's rapid economic growth. It presents diverse perspectives of leading scholars from multiple disciplines, including law, economics, political science, and international relations, as well as practical insights from senior policymakers from both China and the United States. This is an invaluable contribution to ongoing debates about the implications of the rise of China for global economic governance and enriches discussions of the wide-ranging implications of China's growing integration into the multilateral trading system, both now and in the future. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
‘Maritime Community with a Shared Future’ is the broad vision through which China aims to lead the global fisheries governance. This research has been motivated by China's ambition of equating its maritime development goals with sustainable development goal – 14 (Life Below Water). Through this research, the influential role of China in ‘global fisheries governance' has been put through an 'ocean governance mechanism at various levels (national, regional, and international). Therefore, China's role in 'global ocean and fisheries' are discussed side-by-side, focusing on and supporting a better understanding of China's potential challenges and opportunities in world fisheries. The role of China in global and regional fisheries governance has been critically analysed throughout the discussion. It is also discussed how China plays its part in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) and how this role-playing can be utilised through the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) for effective governance, conservation and preservation of marine fisheries. The scope of China's national ocean and fisheries legislation is framed to support China's stance in leading global fisheries governance. The conclusion followed the discussion in descending order suggesting ocean and fisheries governance improvement and appropriate advocacy options available to China.
China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is reorienting global development. Few scholars, however, query relationships between green silk road discourse, BRI infrastructure, partner state development goals, and environmental governance. This article details the roots of green silk road discourse in efforts to environmentally engineer China's desert landscapes. Much like large-scale nature-based infrastructure projects in China, BRI infrastructure projects abroad precipitate a range of socioeconomic and environmental outcomes. Through juxtaposing terrestrial infrastructure development in Ethiopia with maritime infrastructure development in Djibouti, the article demonstrates how different types of BRI infrastructure projects shape environmental governance and advance the development agendas of partner countries. Sugar plantations, roads, railways, and energy infrastructure in Ethiopia further Ethiopian state development plans while transforming Indigenous people's relations to their land and livelihoods. In Djibouti, port infrastructure and military bases figure centrally in strategic rentiership for the Djiboutian state with ancillary effects on fisheries and international trade. The article illustrates how relative articulations between East African central government development interests, environmental governance, and infrastructure are mediated by varieties of Chinese capital. The comparative analysis disrupts simplistic narratives of "win-win" partnerships and "China as threat" to partner state autonomy.
Volume II of The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean focuses on the latest era of Pacific history, examining the period from 1800 to the present day. This volume discusses advances and emerging trends in the historiography of the colonial era, before outlining the main themes of the twentieth century when the idea of a Pacific-centred century emerged. It concludes by exploring how history and the past inform preparations for the emerging challenges of the future. These essays emphasise the importance of understanding how the postcolonial period shaped the modern Pacific and its historians.
Iran has subsidised trout egg imports due to the lower feed conversion ratio of most imported trout eggs. However, the rainbow trout industry is divided on whether to allocate or abolish imported trout subsidies. The elimination of such support would lead to a three‐fold rise in the price of imported trout eggs (which are already more expensive than domestic trout eggs). Furthermore, the economic performance of the domestic trout supply chain over the imported trout supply chain remains yet to be clarified. The present study seeks to evaluate whether imported trout egg subsidies should be continued. Economic efficiency and network data envelopment analysis are used to evaluate the performance and role of subsidies in trout supply chains in Mazandaran, one of the largest trout farming provinces as a new case study in the aquaculture sector, in 2018. Farms that used imported trout eggs were found to have lower economic efficiency and higher dependence on import subsidies. Feed costs were identified to be the most important explanation for poor economic efficiency of trout production. Finally, the results reveal that the development of domestic trout propagation supply chains with integrated forward vertical structures could improve efficiency in the system. The re‐distribution of imported trout egg subsidies to fund feed cost reduction technologies could provide effective solutions to enhance economic efficiency, production sustainability and food security.
It is necessary to give ecological compensation to promote carbon-sink fishery better serve the carbon neutrality goal. This paper constructs a three-party evolutionary game model of fishermen, consumers and the government, analyzes the influence of each subject's behavior probability on the strategies of other subjects and the stability of the system. Then we simulate the effects of government subsidy on the evolutionary outcomes based on field survey data. The results are as follows. (1) Government subsidies can produce a dual incentive effect from the production side and the consumption side. The probability of government subsidies positively affects both fishermen's carbon-sink fisheries farming behavior and consumers' decision to purchase carbon-sink fishery products. (2) Under certain conditions, the game system can achieve a steady state, in this case, Fishermen will spontaneously engage in farming marine carbon-sink fishery, consumers will spontaneously purchase carbon-sink fishery products, and the government provides subsidies to fishermen and consumers. (3) The amount of government subsidies has a negative impact on the stability of the evolutionary game system, the government subsidies for fishermen has a positive impact on the stability of the evolutionary game system, and the government subsidies for consumers has a negative impact on the stability of the evolutionary game system.
Special and Differential Treatment: Contestations, Responses and the Question of Global Equity.
Fishery fuel subsidies reduce the cost of fishery production, promote the continuous expansion of the fishing vessel scale and fishing intensity, lead to overfishing, and eventually result in the deterioration of fishery resources. Based on survey data from Rongcheng, Xiangshan and Beihai, China, in 2018 and 2019, this paper analyzes the cost-benefit, break-even and sensitivity of bottom trawlers to explore the impact of fuel subsidies on bottom trawl fishery operations in China. The results show that the fuel expenditure is the biggest production cost of bottom trawl fishery. The fishery fuel subsidies are crucial to most bottom trawling economies. With fuel subsidies, the break-even operation ratios of bottom trawlers in all three fishing areas are below 100%, and trawler operations are profitable. Without fuel subsidies, only Xiangshan’s trawler operation is in a safe range and can continue to operate. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the catch price and the fuel cost are the top two sensitivity indexes and the two most important determinants of net profit in the bottom trawl fishery operation. Without fuel subsidies a large number of bottom trawlers will withdraw from fishing and decrease fishing effort, thereby reduce the current threat to fish stocks.
The African shores of the Indian Ocean have always been relegated to the status of peripheral areas. However, since the launching of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the various declinations of the Indo-Pacific strategy, Indian Ocean Africa has become the location and the prize of a renewed power game. New actors like China and India, but also Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Israël or Egypt, are competing for influence with traditional European powers. The construction of maritime transport infrastructure is largely in the hands of foreign powers while very few Indian Ocean African states can enforce their sovereignty over their own territorial waters. Whether African countries can become regional players and under which terms remain therefore an open question. Indian Ocean African states can and will be opportunistic. Their sovereignty allows them to increase the cost of their cooperation by playing the various stakeholders against one another but their capabilities, military or otherwise, are too limited for them to influence the nature of the game or turn it to their advantage.
National climate change policy and strategies set out a framework for planning and undertaking climate change adaptation as well as mitigation activities at the national and local levels. In this article, we examine the coherence and contradictions between national policies and plans, and its impacts on the implementation of adaptation measures at the local level. We undertook a content review of key climate change policy documents (n = 4) of Nepal. In addition, we conducted a field study in the Rajdevi Community Forest User Group (CFUG) located in the mid-hills of Nepal, which has developed and implemented a community level adaptation plan of action (CAPA). The field study involved household interviews, focus group discussions, and an in-depth analysis of CAPA implementation. The paper found that while policies are coherent for targeting highly affected areas and communities, they deviate from discerning an appropriate planning and implanting unit. The local adaptation plan of action (LAPA) considers the local government as an implementing unit, while the national adaptation program of action (NAPA) puts an emphasis on the local community groups. It suggests that the existing LAPA implementation breaches the provision of community-level institutions for the implementation conceived in the central framework. Despite little attention to promoting food security in climate change policy, through the CAPA, local communities have planned and implemented adaptation measures envisioned in the thematic areas identified in the climate change policy of Nepal: agriculture and food security; forests and biodiversity; water resources and energy; climate-induced disasters; public health; and urban settlements and infrastructure. Nevertheless, the CAPA is not institutionalized under government policies and the institutional framework as a local level implementing unit. So, the consensus for a local implementing unit in the policies has remained a key issue. We suggest identifying a suitable and acceptable unit for implementing climate change adaptation at the community level. Only if an appropriate implementing unit is identified can the policies be successful with a broader acceptance and desirable outcomes enshrined in the climate change policy.
As part of the ongoing Oceans Asia project, commissioned by ADM Capital Foundation in 2014, this report follows the 2015 report Boom or Bust: The Future of Fish in the South China Sea.
Research scientists from the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries modelled the trajectories of East and South China Sea fisheries under several climate change and fisheries management scenarios. By the 2100, both ecosystems are projected to suffer losses, or even regional extinction, in key marketable species. These outcomes are driven by the impacts of climate change, overexploitation, and the growing demand for fish-based feed by the aquaculture industry, signaling the need for immediate policy action across the region.
This paper compares and analyzes the effects of different amounts of government subsidies and subsidy patterns on water supply, pricing, and profit distribution, and takes water diversion project supply chain composed of water transfer company and the water work as the study object, using financial accounting method innovatively, establishing non-cooperative and cooperative game models of two under government subsidies. The results show that as the number of subsidies increased, the optimal amount of water supply and the profits increased, but the price of water work decreased. When the amount of subsidy stays same, the price of water plant also stays same. However, the price of the water transfer company is constantly changing, the higher the proportion of subsidies it received, the lower the price. In terms of data, the authors take a practical example – the Tao River Water Diversion Project to analyze. This paper’s limitation is that the conclusion is based on a single water transfer company and a single water plant as the research object. However, the actual situation of the water transfer project is that a water transfer company faces a complex supply chain network formed by many water plants and farmers’ water users’ associations.
China seeks to improve the utilization and conservation of marine resources during its 14th Five-Year Period. This is a challenging task considering its poor performance in marine fisheries governance over the decades. This study attempts to elucidate the latent root cause of China’s poor marine fisheries governance through a systematic review of its policies in fisheries conservation. Results show that although some individual policies are accountable for the low efficacy of China’s marine fisheries governance, a fundamental obstacle stems from the internal contradictions of the policy system. Thus, to improve the governance of marine fisheries in China, a more careful institutional design at the top level is needed. The findings of this study can help provide a new window into China’s marine fisheries governance in the past and future.
The blue economy is a globally emerging concept for oceans governance that seeks to tap the economic potential of the oceans in environmentally sustainable ways. Yet understanding and implementation of particular visions of the blue economy in specific regions diverge according to national and other contexts. Drawing on a discourse analysis of Chinese language documents, this article assesses how the blue economy has been conceptualised in Chinese state policy and discourse. Part of a state ideology and practice of modernisation that is defined in terms of rejuvenation under a strong state, the blue economy in China is seen as an opportunity to promote modernisation from overlapping economic, geopolitical and ecological perspectives and actions. China's distinctive model for the blue economy presents emerging challenges for global ocean governance.
Recent studies suggest that the pervasive impacts on global fishery resources caused by stressors such as overfishing and climate change could dramatically increase the likelihood of fishery conflict. However, existing projections do not consider wider economic, social, or political trends when assessing the likelihood of, and influences on, future conflict trajectories. In this paper, we build four future fishery conflict scenarios by considering multiple fishery conflict drivers derived from an expert workshop, a longitudinal database of international fishery conflict, secondary data on conflict driver trends, and regional expert reviews. The scenarios take place between the years 2030 and 2060 in the North-East Atlantic (“scramble for the Atlantic”), the East China Sea (“the remodeled empire”), the coast of West Africa (“oceanic decolonization”), and the Arctic (“polar renaissance”). The scenarios explore the implications of ongoing trends in conflict-prone regions of the world and function as accessible, science-based communication tools that can help foster anticipatory governance capacity in the pursuit of future ocean security.
China's distant water fisheries management policy has made significant contributions to the development of distant water fisheries since 1985. Analyzing the evolution of China's distant water fisheries management policy is conducive to solving China's frequent IUU problems and promoting further development of sustainable fisheries. This paper first summarizes how China's distant water fisheries management policy has evolved, which can be divided into four stages: the start-up period (1985–1990), the rapid development period (1991–1997), the sustainable development period (1998–2007), and the optimization and adjustment period (2008-present). Then the characteristics of current distant water fisheries management are summarized, including how management has adapted to international rules, emphasize sustainable fisheries, diversification and facilitation of management methods. China's distant water fisheries management policy still faces severe challenges in terms of technology, marine rights, management system, industrial structure, and employee capabilities. Finally, this paper highlights the importance of attaching importance to science and technology, re-evaluating distant water fisheries subsidies based on environmental policies and IUU activities, establishing a polycentric governance mechanism with stakeholders at the core, improving the supervision system, and establishing overseas distant water fisheries bases to strengthen international cooperation.
The US-China trade war instigated by President Trump has thrown the multilateral trading system into a crisis. Drawing on vast interview and documentary materials, Hopewell shows how US-China conflict had already paralyzed the system of international rules and institutions governing trade. The China Paradox-the fact that China is both a developing country and an economic powerhouse-creates significant challenges for global trade governance and rule-making. While China demands exemptions from global trade disciplines as a developing country, the US refuses to extend special treatment to its rival. The implications of this conflict extend far beyond trade, impeding pro-development and pro-environment reforms of the global trading system. As one of the first analyses of the implications of US-China rivalry for the governance of global trade, this book is crucial to our understanding of China's impact on the global trading system and on the liberal international economic order. on this title 30 June 2021 Expires
This article examines China's distant water fishing industry, with a focus on China's bilateral fisheries access agreements in Africa. The article argues that China largely conforms to international norms and rules on sustainable fisheries, but that challenges remain in efforts to work with China on the sustainable management of fish stocks. Developed countries contribute to China's policies and behavior in international fisheries in both positive and negative ways.
Using a recently developed database of fisheries subsidies for 148 maritime countries spanning 1989 to the present, total
fisheries subsidies for the year 2003 is computed. A key feature of our estimation approach is that it explicitly deals with
missing data from official sources, and includes estimates of subsidies to developing country fisheries. Our analysis suggests
that global fisheries subsidies for 2003 are between US 14–20 billion. This new estimate is lower than our 2000 global subsidies estimate of US 16 billion or about 60% of the total. These results imply that the global community is paying the fishing industry
billions each year to continue fishing even when it would not be profitable otherwise—effectively funding the over-exploitation
of marine resources.
Using a recently developed database of fisheries subsidies for 148 maritime countries spanning 1989 to the present, total
fisheries subsidies for the year 2003 is computed. A key feature of our estimation approach is that it explicitly deals with
missing data from official sources, and includes estimates of subsidies to developing country fisheries. Our analysis suggests
that global fisheries subsidies for 2003 are between US25 and 29 billion, which is higher than an earlier World Bank estimate of between US 25 and 29 billion, which is higher than an earlier World Bank estimate
of between US 14–20 billion. This new estimate is lower than our 2000 global subsidies estimate of US 30–34 billion. We
find that fuel subsidies compose about 15–30% of total global fishing subsidies, and that capacity enhancing subsidies sum
to US 16 billion or about 60% of the total. These results imply that the global community is paying the fishing industry
billions each year to continue fishing even when it would not be profitable otherwise—effectively funding the over-exploitation
of marine resources.
KeywordsOvercapacity-Overfishing-World Trade Organization-Fuel subsidies
JEL ClassificationF01-H25-L79-Q22-Q28
Over 75% of the world marine fisheries catch (over 80 million tonnes per year) is sold on international markets, in contrast to other food commodities (such as rice). At present, only one institution, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) maintains global fisheries statistics. As an intergovernmental organization, however, FAO must generally rely on the statistics provided by member countries, even if it is doubtful that these correspond to reality. Here we show that misreporting by countries with large fisheries, combined with the large and widely fluctuating catch of species such as the Peruvian anchoveta, can cause globally spurious trends. Such trends influence unwise investment decisions by firms in the fishing sector and by banks, and prevent the effective management of international fisheries.
Fisheries have rarely been 'sustainable'. Rather, fishing has induced serial depletions, long masked by improved technology, geographic expansion and exploitation of previously spurned species lower in the food web. With global catches declining since the late 1980s, continuation of present trends will lead to supply shortfall, for which aquaculture cannot be expected to compensate, and may well exacerbate. Reducing fishing capacity to appropriate levels will require strong reductions of subsidies. Zoning the oceans into unfished marine reserves and areas with limited levels of fishing effort would allow sustainable fisheries, based on resources embedded in functional, diverse ecosystems.
Human-dominated marine ecosystems are experiencing accelerating loss of populations and species, with largely unknown consequences. We analyzed local experiments, long-term regional time series, and global fisheries data to test how biodiversity loss affects marine ecosystem services across temporal and spatial scales. Overall, rates of resource collapse increased and recovery potential, stability, and water quality decreased exponentially with declining diversity. Restoration of biodiversity, in contrast, increased productivity fourfold and decreased variability by 21%, on average. We conclude that marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean's capacity to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from perturbations. Yet available data suggest that at this point, these trends are still reversible.
Judith Shapiro, in clear and compelling prose, relates the great, untold story of the devastating impact of Chinese politics on China's environment during the Mao years. Maoist China provides an example of extreme human interference in the natural world in an era in which human relationships were also unusually distorted. Under Mao, the traditional Chinese ideal of 'harmony between heaven and humans' was abrogated in favor of Mao's insistence that 'People Will Conquer Nature'. Mao and the Chinese Communist Party's 'war' to bend the physical world to human will often had disastrous consequences both for human beings and the natural environment. Mao's War Against Nature argues that the abuse of people and the abuse of nature are often linked. Shapiro's account, told in part through the voices of average Chinese citizens and officials who lived through and participated in some of the destructive campaigns, is both eye-opening and heartbreaking.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, more than 80% of world’s fish stocks are fully exploited, over-exploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion. Although several international agreements have promoted more responsible fisheries, coastal states have usually maintained national policies that enable higher harvest levels rather than greater conservation of fish stocks, and international agreements for more responsible fisheries have generally experienced a weak domestic implementation.
Among the major coastal fishing states, China constitutes the largest fish producer and main exporter in the world, and therefore presents a fascinating case-study for the domestic implementation of international fisheries agreements. This book investigates the degree to which China has complied with the international agreements it has signed, and asks why it is failing to meet expectations. Crucially, it calls for greater emphasis on the political, rather than technical, issues involved in the implementation of international regimes. In turn, it examines how understanding the case of China can help us to develop solutions for improved international compliance in the future.
Providing an improved understanding of the implementation of international regimes, alongside an in-depth study of China’s political system, policy-making and compliance, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, international relations, public policy, and international law and environmental studies. It will also be useful for policy makers working in the fields of environmental regulation and fisheries management.
The aim of this paper is to provide an updated estimate of global fisheries subsidies. It builds on earlier estimates and methodologies to re-estimate and discuss the various types of subsidies provided by governments around the world. The results suggests that total subsidies were about USD 35 billion in 2009 dollars, which is close to the earlier estimate of 2003 subsidies once they are adjusted for inflation. Capacity-enhancing subsidies constituted the highest category at over USD 20 billion. For all regions, the amount of capacity-enhancing subsidies is higher than other categories, except for North America, which has higher beneficial subsidies. The analysis reveals that fuel subsidies constitute the greatest part of the total subsidy (22% of the total), followed by subsidies for management (20% of the total) and ports and harbors (10% of the total). Subsidies provided by developed countries are far greater (65% of the total) than those by developing countries (35% of the total) even though the latter lands well above 50% of total global catch. Asia is by far the greatest subsidizing region (43% of total), followed by Europe (25% of total) and North America (16% of total). Japan provides the highest amount of subsidies (19.7% of total), followed by the United States and China at 19.6% of total.
We conservatively estimate the distant-water fleet catch of the People's Republic of China for 2000–2011, using a newly assembled database of reported occurrence of Chinese fishing vessels in various parts of the world and information on the annual catch by vessel type. Given the unreliability of official statistics, uncertainty of results was estimated through a regionally stratified Monte Carlo approach, which documents the presence and number of Chinese vessels in Exclusive Economic Zones and then multiplies these by the expected annual catch per vessel. We find that China, which over-reports its domestic catch, substantially under-reports the catch of its distant-water fleets. This catch, estimated at 4.6 million t year−1 (95% central distribution, 3.4–6.1 million t year−1) from 2000 to 2011 (compared with an average of 368 000 t·year−1 reported by China to FAO), corresponds to an ex-vessel landed value of 8.93 billion € year−1 (95% central distribution, 6.3–12.3 billion). Chinese distant-water fleets extract the largest catch in African waters (3.1 million t year−1, 95% central distribution, 2.0–4.4 million t), followed by Asia (1.0 million t year−1, 0.56–1.5 million t), Oceania (198 000 t year−1, 144 000–262 000 t), Central and South America (182 000 t year−1, 94 000–299 000 t) and Antarctica (48 000 t year−1, 8 000–129 000 t). The uncertainty of these estimates is relatively high, but several sources of inaccuracy could not be fully resolved given the constraints inherent in the underlying data and method, which also prevented us from distinguishing between legal and illegal catch.
Con todo su crecimiento económico China ha descuidado el medio ambiente, en esta obra se debaten los aspectos que han llegado al límite: la sobreexplotación de los recursos, el desarrollo de una industria contaminante y su crecimiento agigantado. Como muestra la autora comienza con el desastre ambiental en la cuenca de río Huai a partir del año 2001 y las medidas posteriores que ha tomado este país en torno al cuidado ambiental.
This study examines the role of subsidies in explaining the obvious and injurious mismatch between fishing effort and biological production capacity. It uses the definitions and methodology of the WTO on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures of 1994 in defining the nature and size of subsidies to the sector and their impact, based on case studies for Japan, the European Union, Norway, the US, Russia and China.
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