China’s Fisheries Subsidies Propel Distant-Water Fleet
Date of Publication
2021 12:00 AM
Security Theme
IUU Fishing
Keywords
IUU Fishing, IUU Fishing, China, illegal fishing trends, activities
Description
A new analysis of China’s fisheries subsidies reveals decreasing transparency in reporting and continued heavy subsidization of their distant water fleet, but also documents a drop in domestic subsidy spending. Though the use of government subsidies is widespread, they often incentivize harvest that would otherwise be unprofitable – and unsustainable. Indeed, the Chinese government’s 13th five-year plan for 2016-2020 acknowledged the need to reduce the impact of fishing. And findings from Tabitha Grace Mallory, Chen Hao, and Leng Danyan of the China Ocean Institute and the University of Washington appear to confirm reductions in fuel subsidies, especially for the domestic fishing industry. Worrying, however, is the trend toward opacity in reporting and the disproportionate flow of subsidies – the vast majority harmful – to the distant-water fishing (DWF) industry.
China’s Fisheries Subsidies Propel Distant-Water Fleet
A new analysis of China’s fisheries subsidies reveals decreasing transparency in reporting and continued heavy subsidization of their distant water fleet, but also documents a drop in domestic subsidy spending. Though the use of government subsidies is widespread, they often incentivize harvest that would otherwise be unprofitable – and unsustainable. Indeed, the Chinese government’s 13th five-year plan for 2016-2020 acknowledged the need to reduce the impact of fishing. And findings from Tabitha Grace Mallory, Chen Hao, and Leng Danyan of the China Ocean Institute and the University of Washington appear to confirm reductions in fuel subsidies, especially for the domestic fishing industry. Worrying, however, is the trend toward opacity in reporting and the disproportionate flow of subsidies – the vast majority harmful – to the distant-water fishing (DWF) industry.
