China’s Role in the Exploitation of Global Fisheries: Issues for Congress

China has emerged as the world’s largest exploiter of fisheries on a global, not just regional, scale. Chinese fleets are active in waters far from China’s shores, and the growth in their harvests threatens to worsen the already dire depletion in global fisheries. China leads the world in seafood production from aquaculture, inland (freshwater) fisheries, and marine fisheries. The expansion and modernization of fisheries is a key part of China’s broader industrial policy goals of upgrading their agricultural industries and improving domestic food security. China has developed the world’s largest fishing fleet of vessels operating in domestic and neighboring coastal inshore and offshore areas, as well as a distant-water fleet (DWF) active in many parts of the world. China is a major hub for value-added processing in seafood supply chains and it is the world’s largest seafood processor; much of what China processes is exported to other countries. China is also the largest importer and producer of fishmeal for use in aquaculture. The magnitude of China’s seafood production and consumption has implications for international trade, fisheries conservation and management, and allocation of fishery resources among fishing and coastal nations. Many in Congress are interested in China’s involvement in fisheries around the world because of efforts to conserve marine resources globally, and the fishing industry’s intersection with regional conflicts and transnational criminal activities that impact U.S. national security. China’s fishing fleets have been implicated in illegal fishing activity in many parts of the world, and China is a leading country responsible for Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The decline in China’s own coastal fisheries from overfishing and habitat degradation has led, in part, to Beijing developing the world’s largest aquaculture industry and DWF. Limits to China’s inshore fisheries also contributed to an increase in aquaculture production, measures to constrain domestic inshore fisheries (increased regulation and curtailment of some subsidies), an increase in fishing in disputed areas and adjacent nations’ waters, and an expansion of the DWF to other parts of the world. The expansion of the marine sector in China is also driven by China’s broader industrial policy and efforts to improve domestic food security. China also uses its fishing fleet to further geopolitical objectives. The expansion of China’s fishing interests is contributing to conflicts between China and other countries who seek to protect their national fishing interests and to conserve fish stocks. Congress and successive administrations have taken a number of actions to combat IUU fishing. These actions attempt to influence the behavior of fishing fleets through international agreements and trade because most IUU activities occur outside of U.S. jurisdiction. Many of these actions are applied to IUU fishing generally and applicable to illegal activities associated with Chinese fleets and fishing companies. U.S. efforts to combat IUU fishing have included enforcement agreements, trade monitoring, international treaties and agreements, and efforts to promote resource sustainability. As Congress considers China’s maritime ambitions and the depletion of global fisheries, it may consider the ways in which Chinese fishing—both legal and illegal—has affected global fisheries stocks. The U.S. policy response to IUU fishing and China involves two general areas: the review of existing laws and administration efforts to improve efficacy, and the identification of additional authorities that may be needed to combat IUU fishing activities. Given the prominent role of the Chinese DWF in many regional and global fisheries, some have questioned whether U.S. actions should focus on the behavior of China’s fishing fleets or continue to take a more general approach to combating IUU activity. Some potential lines of effort to bolster global fisheries management and combat IUU fishing include improving coordination of U.S. agency efforts, seafood traceability, surveillance and enforcement, and supporting existing international agreements. Related efforts may include providing assistance to countries to enforce regional fisheries management organization agreements and national laws related to IUU fishing, and supporting efforts at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to negotiate reductions in fisheries subsides. Seafood obtained from IUU fishing feeds directly into the flow of seafood traded throughout the world and imported into the United States. The United States is the largest importer of seafood by value and some analysts estimate that over 90% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported. According to some estimates, 11% of the total U.S. imports (valued at $2.4 billion) were obtained from IUU fishing. The International Trade Commission estimates that China is the largest single source of U.S. seafood imports from IUU fishing.