Current State Of Freshwater Fisheries In China

Freshwater fishery traditions in China go as far back as the Zhou dynasty (3059-2269 years ago), when special officers were in charge of fish capture and putting regulations in place to set fishing seasons and ban harmful fishing. Despite this, the overall inland fish production has only increased rapidly in the second part of the 20th century with a current annual freshwater fish production of c. 52 x 10(6) t, making China the most significant contributor to world fisheries (derived from 15.4 x 10(6) t of captured fishes, i.e. 17% of global capture, and 36.7 x 10(6) t from aquaculture, i.e. 61.4% of global aquaculture production). The rapid economic development in China since the 1980s has also led to a range of environmental changes directly affecting freshwater fisheries and fish biodiversity. Most affected were migratory and endemic species with a restricted distribution, but even the most charismatic domestic carps (i. e. grass Ctenopharyngodon idella, black Mylopharyngodon piceus, silver Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and bighead Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) show some sign of decline. This chapter summarizes over 3000 years of freshwater Chinese fisheries history, yet it is hard to believe that policies and adapted management will not soon catch up with the last few decades of unregulated inland production.