Fishery is an ancient and emerging industry, whether it is the ancestors of the net fishing, or the Spring and Autumn Warring States appeared aquaculture, first there is fishing and hunting and then farming, aquatic products are one of the oldest food sources of mankind.
China's fishery has grown from small to large, from weak to strong, from a "dispensable" side business, to a pillar industry in agriculture and rural areas. Under the guidance of the concept of large food, the mainland fishery has explored a path of green and sustainable high-quality development that combines industrial development with ecological environmental protection, and has achieved historic changes and great achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. It has played an important role in ensuring the supply of agricultural products and national food security, increasing farmers' income and rural employment, safeguarding national maritime rights and interests, and strengthening the construction of ecological civilization.
The combination of farming and fishing is mainly based on aquaculture, and the aquatic product supply capacity and fishermen's income have steadily increased
Proceeding from increasing the income of fishermen, solving the needs of the masses to "eat fish", and enriching the "vegetable basket" of urban and rural residents, new China Fishery has experienced rapid growth for decades, and has gradually developed and grown to form a complete industrial system. Since 1989, the mainland's aquatic product output has jumped to the first place in the world, and has maintained the world's first place for 33 consecutive years.
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the development of fisheries and cared about the production and life of fishermen, and has repeatedly visited fishing areas to inspect and investigate, and made important instructions on fishery development and fishery resource conservation. On April 8, 2013, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Tanmen Town, Qionghai City, Hainan Province, he boarded a fishing boat, talked cordially with fishermen, inquired about the safety and living conditions of the voyage, and shared the joy of harvest with the crew.
Aquatic products are an important agricultural product and an important source of high-quality animal protein. The annual output of aquatic products on the mainland has remained above 65 million tons for many years. In 2021, the total output of aquatic products in China reached 66.9029 million tons, an increase of 2.16% over the previous year; the output of seawater products was 33.8724 million tons, an increase of 2.20% year-on-year, and the output of freshwater products was 33.0305 million tons, an increase of 2.11% year-on-year.
The mainland is the only country in the world that produces more aquaculture than catches. In 2021, the mainland aquaculture production was 53.944 million tonnes, accounting for 81% of the total aquatic product production, and the capture production was 12.959 million tonnes, accounting for 19% of the total aquatic product production. At present, the mainland has ranked first in the world as a major fishing country, and aquaculture aquatic products account for more than 60% of the world's aquaculture output.
The development of mainland fisheries has not only successfully solved the problem of 1.4 billion Chinese people having difficulty in eating fish, but also made an important contribution to world food security. In 2021, the per capita share of aquatic products in the mainland was 47.36 kg, an increase of 0.97 kg over the previous year, an increase of 2.09%, which is twice the world average and accounts for about 1/3 of the per capita animal protein consumption.
Nowadays, all kinds of famous and excellent new aquatic products are filling the domestic market, the masses have more choices in eating more fish and eating good fish, and aquatic products are no longer the "icing on the cake" and "dispensable" dishes on the table of the masses, but have gradually become "necessities" on the table.
There are more than 300 species of aquaculture in mainland China, covering fish, shrimp, crabs, shellfish, algae and other aquatic product species. Among them, the production of fish species such as grass, silver carp, bighead carp, carp, crucian carp and tilapia exceeds 1 million tons; River crab production exceeds 500,000 tons; Production of oysters, clams and scallops exceeds 1 million tonnes; Kelp and river borage production exceeds 300,000 tons. An important source of high-quality aquatic products for marine fishing, fish production exceeds 8 million tons, and crustacean aquatic products such as shrimp and crabs produce nearly 2 million tons.
The rapid development of mainland fisheries has enriched the residents' tables and brought richer benefits to farmers and fishermen. According to a survey of the income and expenditure of nearly 10,000 fishermen's families in the country, in 2021, the per capita net income of fishermen nationwide was 23442.13 yuan, an increase of 1604.97 yuan over the previous year, an increase of 7.35%. Livelihood fisheries, represented by fishing, provide a large number of jobs and make outstanding contributions to promoting employment in coastal fishing areas and alleviating employment pressure in inland underdeveloped areas.
Nowadays, fishery has become a pillar industry in local rural areas, making historic contributions to optimizing the rural industrial structure and helping to alleviate poverty, and is also playing an active role in comprehensively promoting rural revitalization.
Ecological priority is given to green development, and resource conservation has allowed China's fisheries to accumulate and develop
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in accordance with the concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains", the national fishery system has practiced the new development concept of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, and vigorously promoted the green development of fisheries.
In 2017, the mainland took the initiative to put forward the goal of total marine fishery resources management and launched the implementation of the marine fishery resources total management system. Up to now, the actual catch in the mainland's coastal waters has been controlled within 10 million tons, and all 11 coastal provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have carried out pilot work on quota fishing management.
In order to further protect and rationally utilize marine living resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has repeatedly adjusted and improved the marine fishing moratorium system. In 2017-2018, stricter regulations were made on the time and type of operation of the marine off-season fishing season, and the permitted fishing species during the fishing moratorium were scientifically set; In 2021, we will optimize the time of the marine fishing moratorium again, reduce the demarcation line from three to two, scientifically and steadily and orderly expand the permitted fishing species during the moratorium, and initially realize the rational utilization of marine fishery resources, the increase of fishermen's income, and the stable and organic unity of the fishing moratorium order.
According to the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, from January 1, 2021, the key waters of the Yangtze River Basin will implement a 10-year perennial ban on fishing, and 111,000 fishing boats and 231,000 fishermen will retire to the shore as scheduled. This is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core from the perspective of strategic overall situation and long-term development, and is a key move to implement the Yangtze River Economic Belt to jointly grasp the great protection measures and reverse the deterioration trend of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River. According to continuous monitoring, since the Ban on Fishing in the Yangtze River for more than a year, the frequency of porpoise groups in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River has increased significantly, and the Yangtze River knifefish has been traced back to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake. The status of aquatic biological resources in the Yangtze River has gradually improved.
Since 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has issued notices to stipulate and continuously adjust the management of fishing bans on the Pearl River, Minjiang River, inland waters of Hainan Province, Haihe River, Liaohe River and Songhua River. In 2018, the Yellow River Basin officially implemented the fishing moratorium system, and in March this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources in the Yellow River Basin" to adjust and improve the yellow river fishing ban system, extending the fishing ban time and expanding the scope of the fishing ban. At present, the upper reaches of the Yellow River have achieved a perennial fishing ban, the lower reaches of the Yellow River have been closed for 4 months, and the fishing ban period system for the 7 major key river basins in the mainland and the fishing ban system for the main rivers, lakes and seas in the mainland have achieved full coverage.
According to incomplete statistics, during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, all localities organized and carried out more than 2,000 breeding and stocking activities every year, invested nearly 1 billion yuan in breeding and stocking funds, and released more than 30 billion seedlings of aquatic organisms, which played an important role in restoring fishery stock resources, improving the ecological environment of water areas, and promoting fishery efficiency and fishermen's income.
Since 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has vigorously promoted the construction of marine ranches, compiled and issued the "National Marine Ranch Construction Plan (2017-2025)" and the "National Marine Ranching Demonstration Area Management Work Specification", and financial and social funds at all levels have invested more than 10 billion yuan in marine ranch construction funds, and built more than 200 marine ranches, including 153 national marine ranches, leading the sustained and healthy development of marine ranches nationwide.
Over the years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has fully implemented the Wildlife Protection Law and the relevant decisions of the National People's Congress, continued to carry out special law enforcement actions, and severely cracked down on illegal aquatic wildlife trade. In 2021, together with the Forestry and Grassland Administration, we will jointly issue the "List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection", strengthen the protection and management of flagship species, comprehensively promote the protection of precious and endangered aquatic wildlife and their habitats, release and implement 7 conservation action plans such as Chinese white dolphins, spotted seals and sea turtles, and establish conservation alliances. Nowadays, the decline trend of flagship species of aquatic wild animals has been initially curbed, artificial breeding technology and containment and rescue capabilities have been increasingly improved, and a good situation of extensive participation in the whole society has initially taken shape.
"Fishing moratorium in the season", "ten-year fishing ban", "breeding and stocking", "marine ranch"... With the smooth implementation of various measures, the mainland's fishery resources protection and management system has been continuously improved, the conservation of aquatic biological resources has been continuously enhanced, fisheries and resource protection have developed in a coordinated manner, and the construction of ecological civilization has achieved remarkable results, and a new path of resource development and utilization and ecological environmental protection has been gradually explored.
Science and technology support transformation and upgrading, and high-quality development has made new fishery formats emerge in an endless stream
In July this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued Announcement No. 578, announcing 26 new varieties of aquatic products approved by the state. Among them, the "Fufa No. 1" of yellow croaker is a new species jointly bred by Xiamen University, Jimei University and the State Key Laboratory (Enterprise) Construction Unit of Yellow Croaker Breeding, which is another landmark achievement of yellow croaker breeding, and the good breeding method of yellow croaker breeding has taken another solid step.
The big yellow croaker, which was once the first of the four main fishing categories in the mainland ocean, was depleted of resources due to overfishing and could not form a fishing flood, and it was the unremitting efforts of several generations of scientific and technological workers represented by Liu Jiafu that made the yellow croaker return to the "people's table". Nowadays, in the Ningde Sanduao Yellow Croaker Breeding Base, the promotion and use of new deep-water anti-wind and wave cages has made the breeding of yellow croaker more ecological and environmentally friendly.
At the beginning of this year, the news that fishermen in Xiangshan County, Zhejiang Province, caught 2450 kilograms of wild yellow croaker in one net attracted everyone's attention, and some scholars believe that the fundamental reason is the restoration of marine ecology. At present, the giant yellow croaker has been the largest and most productive marine fish on the mainland for seven consecutive years, and the wild population has gradually recovered.
In October 2021, the National Marine Fishery Biological Germplasm Resource Bank with the largest investment, the largest conservation scale and the most advanced facilities in the mainland so far was inaugurated and operated, marking the creation of a national technology research and development platform for the protection and sustainable development and utilization of marine fishery biological resources.
At present, there are 236 new varieties of aquatic products independently cultivated by the mainland. The continuous iterative upgrading of breeding technology provides a seed source guarantee for vigorously promoting the revitalization of the aquatic seed industry and the high-quality development of the aquaculture industry.
Fishery technology innovation is not only reflected in breeding, but also in breeding mode and breeding technology. The innovation of breeding mode and technology has set off a wave of freshwater aquaculture and marine aquaculture.
At the beginning of 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and 10 other ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Green Development of the Aquaculture Industry", proposing to accelerate the green development of the aquaculture industry. Science and technology has accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the mainland fishery, and all localities have developed aquaculture industry around ecological health and environmental protection, emerged to transform traditional pond aquaculture, optimize land-based factory aquaculture, steadily promote comprehensive rice and fishery breeding, large surface ecological fishery, expand far-reaching sea facility aquaculture, saline-alkali water aquaculture, circulating water aquaculture and many other new breeding models and new formats, fishery production development and ecological protection more harmonious and unified.
On June 9, 2020, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Helan County in Yinchuan, Ningxia, he learned in detail about the innovative practices of integrated development of rice and fishery breeding, and personally scooped up fish fry and crab fry and put them into the field canal. At present, comprehensive utilization models of agriculture and fisheries developed according to local conditions, such as the restoration of secondary saline-alkali land in Gansu Jingtai, the "upper and lower fisheries" in Dongying, Shandong, the protection of saline-alkali farmland in Caofeidian, Hebei, and the restoration of in situ farming in Shanghai Dafeng Farm, have sprung up in various places.
In the past 10 years, the national fishery science and technology has accelerated key technological breakthroughs, technical system integration and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, the technical system of 6 modern agricultural industries such as bulk freshwater fish, characteristic freshwater fish, marine fish, shrimp, crabs, shellfish has been continuously improved, ecological breeding models such as circulating water, rice and fishery comprehensive breeding, multi-trophic level three-dimensional breeding have been continuously promoted, Internet of Things breeding equipment and large-scale deep-sea aquaculture equipment have continued to emerge, and the detection and monitoring of drug residues of key varieties and the quarantine level of aquatic fry production areas have been continuously improved. The pilot project of traceability of aquatic product quality and safety has been steadily advanced. At present, the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress of mainland fisheries has exceeded 60%.
Processing trade is in the ascendant, and deepening international cooperation has broadened the space for fishery development
At the beginning of January this year, Guangdong Hengxing Group Maoming Company exported 2,500 boxes and 25 tons of aquatic prefabricated vegetables from RCEP (regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement) countries to the Southeast Asian market. This is the first batch of products for Guangdong aquatic products to enter the RCEP countries after the RCEP officially came into effect on January 1 this year.
Aquatic products are one of the most export-competitive products in the mainland's agricultural products, and there are aquatic trade exchanges with 201 countries and regions. At present, the proportion of aquatic products processed on the mainland is 38%, of which the proportion of seawater products processed is 58%, and the proportion of freshwater products is 17%. In 2021, there will be 9,202 aquatic product processing enterprises nationwide, with a total of 21.25 million tons of aquatic products processing, and a total output value of 449.6 billion yuan.
According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs, the surplus of the mainland's aquatic products trade in 2012 was 10.985 billion US dollars, exceeding 10 billion US dollars for the first time. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan (except for 2020), the export volume of aquatic products has stabilized at more than 20 billion US dollars, of which 22.443 billion US dollars reached a peak in 2018.
Fisheries are export-oriented industries, and distant-water fisheries are industries that exploit and utilize international fishery resources in accordance with relevant international laws and relevant bilateral agreements or mechanisms. While continuously expanding the opening up of fisheries to the outside world, the mainland also actively participates in global, regional and bilateral fisheries affairs, joining a total of 9 international or regional fisheries management organizations and cooperating with more than 40 countries in fisheries. By the end of 2021, there will be 178 distant-water fishery enterprises and 2,559 fishing vessels, operating in the high seas of the Three Oceans of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, Antarctic seas and more than 40 countries or regions, with a total output of 2.2465 million tons. The scale, equipment level, fishing and processing capacity, management level and scientific research level of the continental distant-water fishery have ranked among the forefront of the world.
At the same time, with an open and cooperative attitude, the mainland has actively carried out fishery exchanges with neighboring countries, and has successively organized the joint enhancement and stocking of China and south Korea, China and Vietnam, China and Russia, and China and Laos to jointly conserve fishery resources. The Sino-Russian fishery cooperation in Heilongjiang and Ussuri River is a model of cooperation between major countries.
In September 2021, the 4th Global Aquaculture Congress was held in Shanghai, attended by more than 2,700 people from 120 countries, regions and economies around the world and relevant international and regional organizations, and the Shanghai Declaration on Promoting the Sustainable Development of the Global Aquaculture Industry was issued. South-South and triangular cooperation roundtables on sustainable aquaculture development were held concurrently; In December of the same year, the first China-Pacific Island Countries Fisheries Cooperation and Development Forum was successfully held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. The successful hosting of two consecutive home-based international fisheries cooperation conferences has played a unique role in promoting the mainland's peace diplomacy process.
In June, the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Switzerland reached consensus on a number of issues, including fisheries subsidies. Among them, the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement is the most significant outcome of 21 years of arduous negotiations and makes an important contribution to the realization of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The conclusion of this agreement not only makes fisheries contributions to safeguarding multilateralism, but also effectively protects the rights and interests of the mainland's fisheries development.
The expansion of foreign cooperation in fisheries has made positive contributions to the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative, the construction of a community of maritime destiny, and the promotion of the economic and social development of relevant countries, and has also contributed "Chinese wisdom", "Chinese solutions" and "Chinese strength" to the development of world fisheries.
Feng Jianwei