China Fishery Resources
Marine Fishery Resources
China has its border on the sea in the east and south. The Bohai Sea,
Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China Sea have a total area of 35.473 million square
kilometers. Among them 14.8 million square kilometers are continental shelves. The coastline of
18 thousand kilometers starts from the north, at the mouth of Yalujiang River in Liaoning
Province, and ends to the south, at the mouth of Beilunhe River in Guangxi Autonomous Region.
There are over 6500 islands along with the coastline forming numerous fishing bays and fishing grounds. The
tidal areas, about 18.783 million hectors, are good for aquaculture.
There are over 3000 marine species in the China sea. The economically important species are:
- fishes-- hairtail, g.yellow croaker, yellow croaker, chub mackerel, scad, pacific herring,
Spanish mackerel, Chinese herring, pomfrets, S.niphonius, j.mackerel, conger pike,
left-eyed flounder, right-eyed flounder, butterfish, porgy, red snapper, golden thread, cod, black
scraper, sardine, globefish, shark and anchovy;
- molluscs-- cuttlefish, squid, octopus, mussel, oyster, razor clam, blood clam, clams,
abalone and scallop;
- shellfishes--shrimps, Acetes spp, Trachyp spp and crabs;
- algae--kelp, laver;
- others-- sea cucumber, sea urchin, jelly fish.
Inland Water Fishery Resources
The inland waters in China total 176 thousand square kilometers, about 17.6 million
hectors, including rivers, lakes, ponds and reservoirs. The rivers account for 39% of the total and
the lakes contribute 42.2%. The most famous rivers are Yangtze River, Yellow River, Lujiang
River, Lancangjiang River, Yarlung Zangbo River, Heilongjiang River, Liaohe River, Haihe River,
Huaihe River, Xijiang River, Tumenjiang River, Yalujiang River, Qiantangjiang River, Minjiang
River and Oujiang River. The most famous freshwater lakes are Boyanghu Lake, Dongtinghu
Lake, Taihu Lake, Hulunci Lake, Hongzehu Lake, Chaohu Lake, Weishanhu Lake, and salty lakes
are Qinghaihu Lake, Namujiehu Lake, Zhalinghu Lake and Bositenghu Lake. China has about 830
thousand reservoirs with areas of about 2 million hectors and total capacity of 450 billion cubic
meters. Fish ponds in China come to 1.27 million hectors. About 59% are in the east and most of
them are located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
According to 1981 statistics, China has 709 freshwater fish species and 58 subspecies,
excluding 64 species migrating between sea and inland waters. The economically important
species are:
- fishes--black carp, grass carp, silver carp, big head carp, common carp, crucian carp,
bream, reeves shad, eel, cat fish, rainbow trout, salmon, whitebait, mullet, mandarin fish,
perch, sturgeon, murrel, pangolin;
- shellfishes--freshwater shrimps, river crabs;
- molluscs--freshwater mussel, clams, snails;
- aquatic plants--lotus, water chestnut, gorgon euryale;
- others--soft-shell turtle, frog.
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