Research on Chinese Fisheries Rights

Author: Sun Xianzhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: China has one of the longest coastlines in the world; additionally, the country boasts countless famous rivers and lakes, with abundant fishing resources. Along the coastal and river/lake areas, a vast number of fishermen have lived since ancient times. Fishermen rely on fishing for their livelihood, with fishing being their primary source of income. Due to China's extensive coastline and vast inland waters, the fishing industry has historically employed a large number of people. Overall, fishing is a crucial foundational industry in China, and its significance to the national economy and people's livelihoods will become even more pronounced as people's economic lives improve. Since the reform and opening-up, China's fishing industry has developed at a very rapid pace. However, behind this rapid growth, there are many issues that cannot be ignored. Among these, the most pressing issue is the severe mismatch between the economic status of the fishing industry and the legal status of fishermen. On one hand, fishing contributes approximately 10% of the total agricultural output value in China, with over 10 million people employed in the industry. On the other hand, the rights of fishermen to engage in fishing are largely unprotected by law, which creates opportunities for government agencies, enterprises, and individuals to infringe on their rights. As demonstrated in the third part of this book, cases of fishermen's legitimate rights being unjustly violated occur frequently, with serious consequences. Under the guidance of the central government's strategy for sustainable development that prioritizes people-centered and citizen-centered principles, studying the protection of fishermen's rights is particularly meaningful. In the context where the "three rural issues" have become the focus of government work at all levels, the basic rights of farmers have received widespread attention. Once issues of power infringement against farmers arise, public opinion and the media pay close attention, and the Party, government, and judicial authorities respond swiftly. The reason for this is that the fundamental right of farmers—land contract rights—has been specifically legislated in China, and farmers, as a vulnerable group, have received universal humanistic care. However, fishermen, who are broadly categorized as farmers but cannot enjoy the same rights as them, have long been excluded from the attention of lawmakers, enforcers, and the public. This is indeed a very strange phenomenon. In reality, fishermen have no land to cultivate and lack the important immovable asset of land as their basic production material and property, nor can they rely on land for social security, making their economic status even weaker. It is concerning that as a traditional industry, fishing in China faces competitive disadvantages, and individual fishermen in particular are completely unable to participate in modern industrial competition. Therefore, the economic status of fishermen is even inferior to that of farmers, and this should be a widely recognized fact.