Ecosystem-Based Management of Fishery Resources in the East China Sea

Ecosystem-based fishery management is a new concept of international fishery management.Though ecosystem-based fishery management has no generally accepted definition, its characteristics are clear,including that resources exploitation and ecosystem protection should be reconciled as much as possible;fishery management decisions should be made on the basis of an integrated study with knowledge from a variety of subjects;different departments should cooperate with each other.The East China Sea(ECS)is one of the most fundamental fishing grounds in China.Current fishery management in the ECS is however primarily based on single fish,failing short of an integrated fishery management from the perspective of the whole marine ecosystem.Moreover,fishery management of the ECS is facing great pressures at home and abroad.On the one hand,fishery resources in the ECS are declining due to overfishing and marine pollution.For example,aquatic products become younger and smaller,with an increasingly polluted fishing ground.On the other hand,fishing pressures in coastal waters of the ECS have become heavier because of many fishery vessels returned from traditional fishing grounds like the Korea Strait and Cheju Island,and the Fishery Agreement between China and Japan as well as the Fishery Agreement between China and Korea which came into effect in the year 2000 and 2001, respectively.As such,investigating ecosystem-based management is an urgent need for resolving these problems regarding fishery management in the ECS.As for legislation,it is necessary to appropriately revise current fishery regulations.For example,ecosystem-based fishery management should be regulated in the general rules of Fishery Law.Some suggestions are given as follows.First,a fishery management coordination commission in the ECS is suggested to be established to coordinate the opinions of different departments and to realize integrated management.Second,different stakeholders should be promoted to join in fishery management to express their views in the process of fishery decision making.Therefore,they could support fishery decisions voluntarily.Third,marine protection areas and ecosystem monitoring areas should be established to protect marine ecosystems from human’s pollution and destruction and to better monitor a variety of marine disasters.Forth,China should strengthen the cooperation with Japan and Korea according to the Fishery Agreement between China and Japan,and the one between China and Korea.The joint commissions between China and Japan,and between China and Korea have been established to promote conservation and management of marine fishery resources in the ECS.