Fisheries in China: progress, problems, and prospects

China is the leading contributor to world fisheries production. This has been achieved by intensive exploitation of territorial and distant marine waters, by considerable development of mariculture, by extensive use and manipulation of freshwater fish stocks, and by extraordinary expansion and application of better techniques to freshwater culture. Marine capture fisheries were most important until the 1980s when, in response to overexploitation of wild stocks, emphasis shifted to aquaculture. By 1993, aquaculture accounted for more than half of China's fisheries production in spite of considerable expansion of its capture fisheries. Freshwater culture was the biggest fraction, producing 7.9 million t (36.7%). The highest yields were from ponds, followed by reservoirs, lakes, and river channels. Yields per unit area greatly increased because of better rearing methods, polyculture, integrated farm - fish pond culture, introductions of new strains and species, and intensification of culture techniques. Present trends suggest that capture fisheries are approaching their limits. New investments are likely to concentrate on aquaculture. There are risks from disease, deteriorating water quality, use of suboptimal areas, and the demands of increasingly affluent Chinese people. The fisheries sector aims to maximize economic, social, and ecological benefits for Chinese society.