Chinese aquaculture grows as marine capture declines

During the past two decades China has become the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of fisheries products with the result that the nation now has an important impact on the global fisheries market and international supply chain that still is not fully understood.

China’s total marine and aquaculture fisheries production is currently estimated at about 52 million tonnes a year, based on government figures for 2010. Current production is about double China’s fisheries output in 1995 when total production was around 26 million tonnes.

Fisheries production grew rapidly from the beginning of the 1990s as the country’s marine fishing fleet expanded with new investment and aquaculture began to grow across the country as part of government efforts to boost rural incomes.

In 2005 China achieved what was then record production of 51 million tonnes of fisheries products only to see output fall by 10% the following year to 45.8 million tonnes in 2006 due to a sudden decline in marine capture fisheries production

Although output has rebounded since then, total fisheries production appears to be reaching a plateau. Growth in aquaculture production in recent years has been offset by falling marine capture fisheries production due to declining marine resources in China’s as well as international waters.

The nation’s falling marine catch has not gone unnoticed. Earlier this year on 16 May the South China Fishery Administration Bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture imposed a two and a half month fishing ban in most parts of China’s territorial waters in the South China Sea.

The annual fishing ban has been imposed since 1999 as part of efforts to reduce overfishing and improve fish stocks. Similar seasonal fishing bans are used elsewhere in China’s waters to protect fish stocks.

Joint venture
Faced with a declining catch at home, Chinese fishing companies have entered bilateral joint venture fishing agreements with other countries to increase fisheries production. At the same time China’s large fishery processing industry has increased output by importing seafood products from suppliers worldwide.

In 2010 total fisheries production was around 52 million tonnes, based on government figures, of which about 70% was produced by freshwater and marine fish farmers, while the remaining 30% was produced by fishermen, mostly from marine capture fisheries.

Total marine fisheries production is almost 27 million tonnes a year with the marine aquaculture share continuing to grow while marine capture fisheries has stabilised during the past five years.

Marine fisheries output in total accounts for about 53% of China’s overall fisheries production, according to the official China Statistics Yearbook, while freshwater fisheries represents 47% of overall fisheries output.

China’s marine capture fisheries production peaked at about 15.5 million tonnes a year in the mid-1990s and has since fallen to about 12.5 million tonnes annually due to declining domestic and worldwide wild fishery stocks.

About 50% of China’s marine capture fisheries production is taken by trawlers. Government statistics also reveal that about 95% of all fisheries production is consumed in China.

Aquaculture growth
Aquaculture production by freshwater and marine fish farmers, meanwhile, has grown continuously during the past two decades, climbing fourfold from around 9 million tonnes a year in 1990 to reach about 36 million tonnes a year today.

Growing domestic demand for fisheries products has played a major role in the expansion of China’s fishing industry. Rapid economic growth since the early 1990s has raised family incomes in coastal provinces and in major cities countrywide, boosting demand for fishery products and other consumer goods that previously were considered unaffordable luxuries.

Per capita consumption of fishery products has grown as a result and is estimated to have reached almost 15kg a year in 2009 in major cities while in rural areas where incomes are lower, average annual per capita consumption of fishery products is estimated at about 5kg per capita.

“The fishery industry here has many layers. Seafood is a must for consumers,” commented Sigmund Bjørgo, China and Hong Kong director for the Norwegian Seafood Council. “It’s traditional to eat fish in coastal regions and inland where there are rivers and ponds. About 70% to 80% of people say they eat fishery products at least once a week.

“Daily fish consumption is local freshwater fish, mostly produced by aquaculture. People prefer to buy live fish at the market. There are still wet markets here but most supermarkets have live fish as well. Everyday live fish are the cheapest to buy. It’s traditional because it is easier to store live fish than preserve dead fish.”

Although China’s growing middle class own refrigerators, these are still not affordable for lower income groups who consequently prefer to buy live fish. The actual distance that fish travel from the place of production depends on the species and demand.

Different species
A lot of different fish species are eaten, Mr Bjørgo noted. Each area has its popular fish species though these vary around the country.

Steamed and fried fish dishes are most common, with fish often being braised and a sauce added while the fish is fried. All dishes are cooked for sharing. A typical home meal consists of two or three dishes with rice. In southern China most meals are served with a soup dish as well.

“People believe marine fish are better and more nutritious than freshwater species. Some people worry that local fish are polluted from the water and that marine fish are more healthy,” Mr Bjørgo said. “Marine fish are most commonly eaten in coastal provinces. People prefer to buy them chilled but we are seeing an increase in frozen seafood products in hypermarkets which are mostly in first and second tier cities.”

According to China’s National Statistics Bureau (NSB), total fish production reached 29.9 million tonnes in 2009, up 4.5% from the previous year, and accounted for 58% of the nation’s total fisheries output.

Farmed fish production totalled 20.4 million tonnes, representing 68% of total fish production. Carp is the most popular farmed fish with production reaching 14.5 million tonnes in 2009, up 7.4% year-on-year, and accounting for 74% of total freshwater farmed fish production.

Tilapia is another popular cultured fish with production standing at about 1.2 million tonnes in 2009. Catfish output, although much smaller, also is growing and stands at about 220,000 tonnes a year.

Shellfish, mostly marine species, account for 23% of China’s total fisheries production. Shellfish production in 2009 was 11.2 million tonnes overall, according to NSB figures. Marine shellfish, mostly farmed, represented 95% of shellfish production and 75% of China’s total marine farmed fisheries output.

Crustaceans totalling 5 million tonnes accounted for another 10% of China’s overall fishery output. Marine production of shrimp, prawn and crab was 2.9 million tonnes and freshwater production 2.1 million tonnes. Farmed Penaeus Vannamei production in 2009 reached 1.1 million tonnes.

Private enterprise
China’s fishing industry has changed during the past 20 years as private enterprise has entered the fisheries sector mirroring the growth of private enterprise in other former state-controlled areas of the economy.

Currently there are about 2 million fishermen in China, with the number declining each year. Many have a second job to supplement their income.

Up until the 1980s all fishermen and others employed in the fishing industry belonged to a fishing collective company owned by the local community. This system is not finished yet but continues to evolve. Collective fishery companies operate in Shandong Province, for example, along with private fishing boats owned by individual owners.

According to government statistics, China’s fishing fleet consists of around 15,000 fishing boats of which only about 500 vessels have been reported to the International Maritime Organisation as measuring more than 24 metres in length.

In recent years the government’s policy has been to reduce the number of small fishing vessels with motors less than 185 horse power in each coastal province.

Shandong is China’s largest fisheries producing province with total output of 7.5 million tonnes in 2009, accounting for 15% of the nation’s total fishery production, followed by Guangdong Province with 7 million tonnes representing 14% of national output and Fujian Province with 5.6 million tonnes accounting for 11% of fisheries production.

Shandong is China’s largest marine fisheries producing province with a marine fisheries output of 6.2 million tonnes in 2009 accounting for 80% of the province’s overall fisheries production.

Fujian is the second largest marine fisheries producer with the 4.9 million tonnes marine output in 2009 representing 88% of the province’s total 5.6 million tonnes fisheries production.

Guangdong is the country’s third largest marine fisheries producer and joint second largest freshwater producer after Hubei Province. In 2009 Guangdong’s total 7 million tonnes fisheries output consisted of 3.9 million tonnes of marine products and 3.1 million tonnes of freshwater species.

Other big marine producers are Zhejiang Province with 3.5 million tonnes of its total 4.4 million tonnes of fishery products being derived from marine fishery activities and Liaoning Province where 3.3 million tonnes of total fisheries output is marine fishery products.

Meanwhile, Hubei Province in central China is the country’s biggest freshwater fishery producer recording 3.3 million tonnes in 2009.

Unlike Hubei which produces only freshwater fish due to its inland location, Jiangsu and Guangdong, the two other leading freshwater fish producers which both produce 3.1 million tonnes a year of freshwater species also have important marine fishing industries due to the coastal locations.

Major processing centre
Meanwhile, China has become a major fish processing centre with some of the processed fish destined for the domestic market and the rest for export. Although some of the fishery products produced are made from domestically caught fish, a significant proportion are imported for export processing.

“There are over 100 processing plants. Some belong to large corporations while others are small private concerns. Some are foreign-owned plants such as Japan-owned factories which are used to control the value chain and quality,” Mr Bjørgo said.

“The processing industry is still growing and is outsourced as many plants are located in duty free zones.”

In 2010 China imported over US$4.5 billion of fish and other seafood products, up 10% over the previous year. Russia is the major supplier providing 28.3% of imports, followed by Norway supplying 8.9% of total imports and Japan with 6.7%.

China’s major imports included frozen fish with bones, frozen Pacific salmon, frozen shrimp and prawns, and crab.

In 2010, China exported over US$13.6 billion in fish and other seafood products worldwide, up 17.5% from the previous year.

Most of China’s exports were of fish filets, crustaceans and frozen fish. Major destinations were Japan, the United States and South Korea.