End of South China Sea Fishing Moratorium: South China Launches New Round of 'Farming the Sea and Fishing' Operations

At 12:00 noon on August 16, China’s three-and-a-half-month South China Sea seasonal fishing moratorium ended. Fishing boats in Yangjiang, Guangdong, and Beihai, Qinzhou, Fangchenggang in Guangxi, as well as Hainan and other areas, set sail one after another, kicking off a new round of 'farming the sea and fishing' operations.

On the morning of the 16th, an ancient sea-sacrificing ceremony was held at the Xingaopile Pier of Zhapao National Central Fishing Port in Yangjiang, Guangdong. Local intangible cultural heritage performance groups followed millennium-old fishing family rituals, passing on the fishermen’s simple feelings of reverence for nature and gratitude for the sea.

Yangjiang fisherman Lin Xingde has made a living from the sea with his parents since childhood. This year, he alone led the younger generation out to sea. He told reporters: “We started preparing for the fishing season last month, repairing nets and boats. Yesterday, we loaded daily necessities and ice onto the boat, hoping this time we’ll return fully loaded, catching more pomfrets, squid, hairtail, sardines and the like, and bring back fresh catches for tourists to taste.”

This year’s South China Sea (Yangjiang) fishing season event lasts from August 15 to 17, with 15 activities scheduled—a record in scale, variety, and number. At the opening event, the 'Financial Water Nourishes the Blue Sea in Guangdong' project was launched. It aims to build a marine ranching financial service system for Guangdong Province, injecting dynamism into the construction of the 'Guangdong Marine Granary.'

To welcome a new fishing season, on August 16, residents of Qiaogang Town, Beihai City, Guangxi, grandly held a traditional sea-sacrificing ceremony to pray for blessings from the sea, while the three-day Qiaogang Opening Sea Carnival was launched simultaneously. It is reported that this carnival includes the sea opening ceremony, an inaugural fresh seafood charity auction, a thousand-person seafood feast, and ten other featured themed activities, offering visitors a coastal cultural and tourism extravaganza full of maritime charm, authentic Tanka (Dan family) customs, and sporting vitality.

On August 16, Qionghai Tanmen Central Fishing Port in Hainan held the 'Tanmen Tidal Season', celebrating the opening of the fishing season with a special performance. According to forecasts from meteorological departments, sea conditions in the South China Sea will be stable at first and then turn risky over the next week; from August 18, wind and waves will increase significantly, and there is a possibility of typhoon formation. The China Maritime Search and Rescue Center and the Central Meteorological Observatory jointly remind vessels, facilities, and personnel operating at sea to beware of the wind and make full preparations for safety.

Over 8,000 Fishing Vessels Set Out in Fujian

Over 8,000 fishing boats in Fujian Province weighed anchor and set sail, launching a new round of sea farming and fishing.

At Xiangzhi National Central Fishing Port in Shishi, neatly lined fishing boats cast off sequentially and headed for the fishing grounds. A series of coastal leisure and cultural tourism activities also unfolded at various ports along the Quanzhou coast, with events such as a 100-table, thousand-person fishing village banquet and a fishing family cultural and creative fair reviving the coastal cultural tourism consumption market, enabling locals and tourists to deeply experience marine fisheries culture.

Previously, at 14:00 on the 11th, four types of special licensed fishing vessels and supporting boats in waters north of 26°30′N in Fujian Province—outrigger net shrimp, trap and pot, gill net, and light surround net—were allowed to begin operations, with nearly 1,700 boats ending the moratorium and resuming production. In recent days, wild-caught seafood such as swimming crabs, sea shrimp, ribbonfish, and silver pomfret has started appearing on dining tables, giving Fujian residents a more diverse and affordable “seafood basket.”

The Mingcheng Strait Aquatic Products Trading Center in Mawei District, Fuzhou City, is one of the most important aquatic product wholesale markets and distant-water fishery distribution centers in both Fujian Province and China. According to the center’s manager, the price of swimming crabs has dropped by more than 30% compared to during the moratorium. With the reopening of fishing, the volume and variety of wild-caught seafood will further increase, and prices will fall accordingly.

Dai Jiufang, Deputy Squad Leader of Fujian Provincial Marine and Fisheries Law Enforcement Team, said that before the fishing season opened, five work groups from the team went to key coastal areas such as Quanzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Fuzhou, Putian, and Pingtan to inspect fishing ports and berths, strictly preventing premature departures, and checking execution of safety production systems; law enforcement vessels were also deployed in key ports and sea areas to ensure order before the season, while cracking down on unregistered (“three no’s”) fishing vessels and all types of illegal fishing activity.