File Photo:Xinhua

 

The newly amended Regulations on the Administration of Distant Water Fishery ("Regulations") have been approved after deliberation by the Executive Meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China. The Regulations have been released in the form of a ministerial order and will be implemented on April 1, 2020. In accordance with the principles of "Harmonising with International Rules, Promoting Transformation and Upgrading, Enhancing Supervision and Management, Strengthening Legal Liabilities", the amended Regulations build upon the previous Regulations released on June 1, 2003. The amendments are detailed as follows:

1. Harmonisation with International Management Rules 

The amended Regulations give a higher priority to the conservation and rational use of marine fishery resources, the sustainable development of distant water fishery, and better control of the size of the fishing fleet. This reflects China's commitment to the conservation of fisheries resources. The amended Regulations demonstrate China's resolve to reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing ("IUU") by depriving IUU fishing vessels of access to distant water fishing, prohibiting distant water fishing vessels from engaging in IUU fishing and denying foreign IUU fishing vessels access to ports in China. Distant water fishery enterprises, vessels and crew members are expected to act in conformity with current international rules and requirements.

2. Improved Management of Overseas Activities

The amended Regulations emphasize the responsibilities of vessels and crew members, and put in place specific requirements for vessel decommissioning and retirement, use of flags, exterior identification of vessels, equippment of crew and change of nationality. The Regulations define the responsibilities of distant water fishery enterprises, managers and captains regarding safety at sea, and add new provisions governing fishing operations at sea. This includes boarding and inspection, navigation through the waters of other countries, access to foreign ports, and the responsible discharge of sewage. The Regulations establish measures for the supervision and management of vessel position monitoring, fishing logs, observer schemes and handing of safety incidents and accidents overseas, to ensure better conformity with regulations concerning foreign-related activities.

3. Enhanced Penalties for Violating Regulations

The amended Regulations enumerate 13 violations of regulations, which include the 11 contained in the previous Regulations. These include two new specific violations for IUU fishing and the deliberate deactivation of vessel position monitoring devices. Penalties vary with the seriousness of the violation, and enterprises committing serious violations may be subject to suspension or cancellation of fishing license. Meanwhile, the amended Regulations specify that a "blacklist" system for distant water fishery employees is to be established. Enterprise managers, project managers and vessel captains who commit serious violations of laws or regulations, or are responsible for major safety production accidents, or cause violations of regulations on overseas distant water fishery are to be added to the "blacklist" for distant water fishery practitioners.

4. Facilitated Work of Relative People of Management 

Building upon years of experience managing distant water fishing activities, the amended Regulations further refine procedures designed to support the distant water fishery, starting with the application process for participating in the distant water fishery. The Regulations cover, inter alia, project application, project approval, project implementation, issuance of licenses, annual review of licences, and termination of activities. To reduce red tape, documents concerning vessel inspection and examination no longer need to be submitted if valid information such as business licenses, ship safety certificates, and ownership certificates are already available in the corresponding government affairs management information system.

The previous Regulations released in 2003 have played an important role in ensuring the continuous and rapid development of China's distant water fishery. Up to now, the Chinese distant water fleet has been made up of more than 2,600 vessels, with a total fishing output of over 2.2 million tons. The fleet size and total output have become one of the world's largest, making China the most important distant water fishing country. At the same time, the fishery sector has undergone profound changes both home and abroad in terms of industrial development. High seas fishing falls under the management of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs). China is a member of eight RFMOs, 6 of which were joined after the release of previous Regulations in 2003. The international community recognises that fishing nations should attach more importance to the conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources and the combat of IUU fishing. Domestically, there are many distant water fishery enterprises that are small scale, inefficient, and poorly managed. The fishery industrial development model calls for these to be rapidly transformed and upgraded. There also remain many safety concerns, accidents and violations of regulations. To address this, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China has therefore amended and improved the previous Regulations. The amended Regulations are better adapted to international rules and further strengthen the supervision and management of distant water fishery in order to promote its orderly operation and development.