Chinese fishermen will face stricter regulations as marine resources are depleting. (Photo : Getty Images)
A study recently published by Stanford University revealed that there are opportunities that the Chinese government can use to control the loss of marine resources in the country's seas.
Global fish stocks are continuously depleting and the low levels in China have been an issue for decades. According to the paper, Ling Cao and Rosamond Naylor recommended that the government take serious reforms.
"The goal of our research was to explore the opportunities for marine fisheries reform in China that arise from their 13th Five-Year Plan and show how the best available science can be used in the design and implementation of fisheries management in China's coastal and ocean ecosystems," said Cao, a research scholar with Stanford's Center on Food Security and the Environment (FSE) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The study examined the progress of work and the loss of fish stock since the establishment of China's 1978 economic reform. Since then, the government tried to implement changes in conserving marine resources but lacked in the proper approach.
Both Cao and Naylor recommend that for marine resources to be sustainably managed, more research should be in place.
They also said that fishing access should be monitored and stakeholders in the industry should be educated about preserving the sea.
According to William Wrigley, a professor of Earth System Science at Stanford University, "Understanding cultural differences will promote a stronger international community in marine science and China will follow its own cultural norms in governing its fisheries resources."
However, other experts argue that China's attempt to regulate fishing might lead to fishermen stretching to disputed waters with the Philippines and Vietnam.
According to the research of Vida Macikenaite of Keio University, "such observations confirm that recently China might be using fisheries as an excuse to reinforce its territorial claims in the South China Sea."
