Overfishing spells trouble for China's future

[Jacque67 7,328]

But in pursuing growth (and catch) at all costs, Chinas fishermen have exacted a terrible environmental toll. Today, the Yangtze River, which supplies 60 percent of Chinas freshwater catch, produces less than a quarter of the fish it did in 1954, and most of the 170 species in the river are on the verge of extinction. The situation is no better offshore. The government acknowledges that Chinese fishermen routinely exceed annual sustainable catch limits in Chinese territorial seas by 30 percent or more. A visit to any Chinese seafood market will turn up large inventories of under-sized fish that should never have been caught.

Blame for this state of affairs falls on both the fishing industry and the government, which spent $6.5 billion on fisheries subsidies in 2013 alone. Nearly all of that money paid for cheap fuel that allowed and arguably encouraged Chinese fishermen to venture further from shore, often into the comparatively un-plundered exclusive economic zones of countries such as Indonesia. Worse, the Chinese military has openly abetted those efforts by subsidizing everything from ice to GPS on Chinese fishing boats. The goal: to solidify Chinas claim to historical fishing rights in the vast and deeply contested South China Sea.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/22/commentary/japan-commentary/overfishing-spells-trouble-chinas-future/

[Jacque67 7,328]

Pacific Laury (?) -sanma in Japanese- are being caught before they reach Japanese waters.

The price of one of my favourite fish has increased dramatically, and availability in shops is decreasing.

On top of that , the typhoons hitting Hokkaido and northern Japan means vegetable prices will increase too, this year!

[TBoneTX 43,022]

Let's export our EPA to China.

[Póg mo 1,749]

Let's export our EPA to China.

Yes, it looks as though China needs better regulations, to stop over fishing, air pollution, water pollution. Edited September 13, 2016 by Póg mo