Ministry of Agriculture Strengthens Top-Level Design and Legal Framework for Fisheries Development

According to a news release on the Ministry of Agriculture website on the 24th, on August 23, the Ministry of Agriculture held a national symposium of directors of fisheries departments in Xining, Qinghai Province, to exchange progress on key fisheries and fisheries administration work and to study and discuss the "Draft Amendment to the Fisheries Law" and the draft of the “13th Five-Year” Fisheries Development Plan. Vice Minister of Agriculture Yu Kangzhen stressed that fisheries development must adapt to the new normal, proactively transform its growth model, and actively adjust its structure.

Yu Kangzhen pointed out that positive progress has been made in cleaning up and rectifying “juéhù wǎng” (nets with mesh so fine they catch all aquatic life), cracking down on “three-no” vessels involved in fishing, adjusting the fisheries fuel price subsidy policy, and building the fisheries legal system; solid strides have been taken in fisheries structural adjustment and transformation and upgrading; and new arrangements have been made for fisheries safety production. From January to July, national aquatic product output reached 29.8659 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.12%. Fisheries production maintained stable development, quality and safety remained at a relatively high level, and the export situation was stable.

⟦NL> Yu Kangzhen stressed that, taking the formulation of the “13th Five-Year” development plan and the amendment of the Fisheries Law as an opportunity, top-level design for fisheries development and fisheries legal system building should be strengthened. The principle of prioritizing ecology should be comprehensively implemented, the conservation of aquatic biological resources and energy conservation and emissions reduction should be continuously strengthened, and green development, circular development, and low-carbon development should be promoted. Through scientific and technological innovation, institutional innovation, and management innovation, industrial transformation and upgrading should be driven forward. The fisheries legal system should be improved and perfected, administration should be carried out according to law, law enforcement should be strict, and efforts should be made to maintain the sustained and healthy development of fisheries.