China’s central government spent CNY 200 million (USD 29.6 million, EUR 25.8 million) to promote “deep-sea” aquaculture in 2018 in eight provinces.
The central government will spend an additional CNY 1.69 billion (USD 250 million, EUR 218 million) between 2015 and 2019 on “ocean pastures” (also translated as “sea ranches”) for aquaculture, according to a Ministry of Agriculture document summarizing fisheries objectives for 2019. China has 233 such ocean pastures, according to the document, which also stated that the country has built 60 million cubic metres of artificial coral as part of the pastures – and that this in turn has sequestered 194,000 tons of carbon.
The “ocean pastures” are intended as a source of new jobs for fishermen as China seeks to reduce the size of its domestic fleet. The ministry claims that the pastures “have generated CNY 3.19 trillion [USD 471.7 billion, EUR 411.4 billion] in economic benefits,” which includes earnings from tourism as vacationers come for leisure fishing and dining at the ocean pastures, according to the document.
Photo courtesy of Rizhao Wanzefeng Fisheries Co.
