Management of China's capture fisheries: Review and prospect

Management of capture fisheries has been a perpetual problem facing all fisheries countries worldwide. This study first analyzes the features of China's capture fisheries, and points out that its management tends to be more complex and difficult than any other country in the world. It goes on to describe the history of China's fisheries management and the development process of China's fisheries policies, recognizing the role of fisheries policies in guiding and promoting industrial production during the whole development process. With Fisheries Law of the People's Republic of China as the basic framework, China is thought to have initially formed a fisheries management system with a complete structure and powerful measures for constant improvement and reinforcement. Major systems and measures of China's fisheries management are summarized, with their corresponding effects being evaluated to a certain extent. China's continuous introduction of advanced fisheries management philosophies over the past decades, especially since the reform and opening up, plays an active role in securing the prosperity of the following five industries: aquaculture, capture fisheries, processing and logistics, enhancement, and recreational fisheries; more effort has been put into fisheries ecological environment restoration; and law-based governance capacity in fisheries has been significantly improved. However, due to the characteristics of China's fisheries, as well as the complex and uncertain nature of fisheries itself, certain prominent problems still remain in its capture fisheries. With reference to relevant fisheries development planning, the study concludes with a prospect that China's capture fisheries management will be steered towards the total catch control of fisheries resources and the intensification of resource conservation and ecological restoration.