Combating IUU fishing: an examination of interaction between China and regional fisheries management organizations

IF 2.8 2区生物学 Q1 MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY

Frontiers in Marine Science Pub Date : 2025-05-28 DOI:10.3389/fmars.2025.1601534

Shuo Li

{"title":"Combating IUU fishing: an examination of interaction between China and regional fisheries management organizations","authors":"Shuo Li","doi":"10.3389/fmars.2025.1601534","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines China’s evolving engagement with Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) in addressing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. As the world’s largest fishing nation, China’s cooperation is crucial to achieving global fisheries sustainability. Through an analysis of legal instruments and case studies across eight RFMOs in which China participates, the study finds that China has progressively aligned its domestic regulations with RFMO measures—such as vessel licensing systems, observer programs, and IUU vessel blacklists. The incorporation of RFMO obligations into its national legislation, along with China’s cooperative approach toward RFMOs of which it is not a member, reflects a growing commitment to international fisheries governance. However, challenges remain. While China has actively engaged in RFMO decision-making processes, its cautious stance on certain issues highlights ongoing tensions both among member states and between states and international institutions. This study concludes that China’s regulatory reforms have enhanced its compliance and demonstrated its commitment to sustainable fisheries. However, further improvements in transparency and a more proactive role in international cooperation remain necessary. RFMOs provide valuable platforms for collaborative governance, and strengthening deeper and effective participation is essential to enhancing their overall function","PeriodicalId":12479,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Marine Science","volume":"134 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Marine Science","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1601534","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

This paper examines China’s evolving engagement with Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) in addressing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. As the world’s largest fishing nation, China’s cooperation is crucial to achieving global fisheries sustainability. Through an analysis of legal instruments and case studies across eight RFMOs in which China participates, the study finds that China has progressively aligned its domestic regulations with RFMO measures—such as vessel licensing systems, observer programs, and IUU vessel blacklists. The incorporation of RFMO obligations into its national legislation, along with China’s cooperative approach toward RFMOs of which it is not a member, reflects a growing commitment to international fisheries governance. However, challenges remain. While China has actively engaged in RFMO decision-making processes, its cautious stance on certain issues highlights ongoing tensions both among member states and between states and international institutions. This study concludes that China’s regulatory reforms have enhanced its compliance and demonstrated its commitment to sustainable fisheries. However, further improvements in transparency and a more proactive role in international cooperation remain necessary. RFMOs provide valuable platforms for collaborative governance, and strengthening deeper and effective participation is essential to enhancing their overall function

查看原文本刊更多论文

打击IUU捕鱼：中国与区域渔业管理组织互动研究

本文考察了中国与区域渔业管理组织（RFMOs）在解决非法、不报告和不管制（IUU）捕捞问题上不断发展的合作。作为世界上最大的渔业国家，中国的合作对实现全球渔业可持续发展至关重要。通过对中国参与的八个区域渔业管理组织的法律文书和案例研究的分析，该研究发现，中国已逐步将其国内法规与区域渔业管理组织的措施相一致，例如船舶许可制度、观察员计划和IUU船舶黑名单。将区域渔业管理组织的义务纳入其国家立法，以及中国对其不是成员的区域渔业管理组织采取合作态度，反映了中国对国际渔业治理的日益承诺。然而，挑战依然存在。虽然中国积极参与了RFMO的决策过程，但其在某些问题上的谨慎立场凸显了成员国之间以及国家与国际机构之间持续的紧张关系。本研究的结论是，中国的监管改革提高了其合规程度，并表明了其对可持续渔业的承诺。然而，进一步提高透明度和在国际合作中发挥更积极主动的作用仍然是必要的。区域区域管理组织为协作治理提供了宝贵的平台，加强更深入、更有效的参与对增强区域区域管理组织的整体功能至关重要

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Frontiers in Marine Science Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Aquatic Science

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

16.20%

发文量

2443

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Marine Science publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research that advances our understanding of all aspects of the environment, biology, ecosystem functioning and human interactions with the oceans. Field Chief Editor Carlos M. Duarte at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, policy makers and the public worldwide. With the human population predicted to reach 9 billion people by 2050, it is clear that traditional land resources will not suffice to meet the demand for food or energy, required to support high-quality livelihoods. As a result, the oceans are emerging as a source of untapped assets, with new innovative industries, such as aquaculture, marine biotechnology, marine energy and deep-sea mining growing rapidly under a new era characterized by rapid growth of a blue, ocean-based economy. The sustainability of the blue economy is closely dependent on our knowledge about how to mitigate the impacts of the multiple pressures on the ocean ecosystem associated with the increased scale and diversification of industry operations in the ocean and global human pressures on the environment. Therefore, Frontiers in Marine Science particularly welcomes the communication of research outcomes addressing ocean-based solutions for the emerging challenges, including improved forecasting and observational capacities, understanding biodiversity and ecosystem problems, locally and globally, effective management strategies to maintain ocean health, and an improved capacity to sustainably derive resources from the oceans.