According to Ministry of Agriculture of China, Chinese fisheries are facing severe overcapacity problems regarding fisheries catches. Besides, the fish categories and quality become inferior and fishery resources are constantly declining. The Ministry, therefore, is determined to take measures to reduce the excessive fishing capacity.
In recent years, Chinese fisheries has been thriving, but there are also problems, such as fishing overcapacity, low-level fish category and quality, continuous decline of fishery resources and o on. For example, more than 370 fish species lived in Yangtze River Basin, among which 170 species are peculiar to the River. But many of their existence are threatened right now while white-flag dolphin and Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) have already went extinct, and chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis ) and cowfish (Neophocaena phocaenoides ) are critically endangered. Statistics from China Ministry of Agriculture shows that the catch proportion of four family fishes in Yangtze River, black carp, grass carp, silver carp and bighead carp, among the total fishing catch has declined from 80% before to 14% at present, whose egg laying amount also dropped from 30 billion to less than 1 billion so far, only 3% of that before. In reference with the documents supplied by the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center under Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, bigmouth grenadier anchovy (Coilia macrognathos Bleeker) once accounted for more than 35% of the total fishes catch of Yangtze River, whose annual production, however, is only dozens of tones so far.
At present, the freshwater fish catch in Yangtze River is only only about 100, 000 tonnes each year, less than one fourths of the catch in peak year. The over-fishing lying in offshore fishery is one of the main reasons that cause the unsustainable development of fishing resources. The potential catch of fishery resources in China-governed sea areas is about 8-9 million tonnes, but the actual annual catch is around 13 million tonnes. Owing to the over-fishing and environmental factors, the offshore fish egg laying region in China is severely damaged and the ocean fishery resources suffer severe decline. There has been no fishes available to catch in East China Sea, and the similar situation also somehow occurs in other Chinese sea areas.
Han Changbin, the Minister of China Ministry of Agriculture, stated that present problems in fishery is not about quantity but the species, quality, fishing resources and ecological environment. On one hand, the resources should be properly protected. On the other hand, the focus should be placed on decreasing fishing quantity and increasing earnings.
