中国计划增加远洋渔船队捕捞量

China plans to increase the catch from its far-sea fishing fleet as it clamps down on fishing in its own heavily depleted waters, in a move likely to heighten maritime tension with other coastal nations.

中国计划增加本国远洋渔船队的捕捞量，同时在鱼类资源严重耗竭的本国水域实行禁渔期制度，此举可能加剧中国与其他沿海国家之间的海上紧张。

The state-subsidised long-distance fleet is targeting an increase in its annual catch from 2m tonnes in 2016 to 2.3m tonnes in 2020, according to the agricultural ministry. Some 90m tonnes of wild fish were caught globally in 2016, according to the UN.

根据中国农业部的数据，国家补贴的中国远洋渔船队的年度捕捞目标将从2016年的200万吨增至2020年的230万吨。据联合国统计，2016年全球约有9000万吨野生鱼类被捕捞。

China’s far-ocean fleet increased its catch by nearly 50 per cent over the five years to 2016, according to China’s agricultural ministry. The haul — often sold to Chinese fish processors that export to Europe and the US — has fuelled international concerns over dwindling fish stocks and illegal fishing in territorial waters.

根据中国农业部的数据，中国远洋渔船队的捕捞量已在截至2016年的五年里增加近50%。这些渔获往往被出售给出口到欧洲和美国的中国鱼类加工商，引发国际社会对鱼类存量减少和在别国领海非法捕鱼的担忧。

Chinese fishermen have been involved in clashes with coastguards of countries as far away as Argentina, Ecuador and Guinea. China’s fuel subsidies for its fishing fleet were a key topic of debate at a December World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires but Beijing did not agree to end the payments.

迄今中国渔民已经与多个遥远国家的海警发生冲突，包括阿根廷、厄瓜多尔和几内亚。去年12月，在布宜诺斯艾利斯举行的世界贸易组织(WTO)部长级会议上，中国对本国渔船队的燃料补贴是一个关键的辩论议题，但北京方面并未同意停止这些支付。

China said ahead of the meeting that it would cap its number of far-ocean fishing vessels at 2,000 by 2020 — an increase of roughly 100 from the current level. However, that quota does not prevent Chinese fishing companies from using bigger boats.

中国在会前表示，到2020年它将对远洋渔船数量实行2000艘的上限——比目前水平增加约100艘。但是，这一额度并不阻止中国渔业公司使用更大的渔船。

Two 77-metre distant-water squid-fishing boats were completed in the eastern province of Fujian last month, following the December launch in southern Guangdong province of two 51m vessels set to fish off the coast of Mauritania.

两艘77米长的远洋鱿鱼捕捞船上月在福建省完工，此前两艘51米长、将在毛里塔尼亚沿海进行捕捞作业的渔船12月在广东省下水。

Local governments have ambitious plans for new launches, with Fujian planning to add 150 ships by 2020. Companies are building fish-processing facilities in Africa under the banner of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

地方政府有雄心勃勃的新船建造计划，其中福建省计划到2020年新增150艘船舶。企业正在北京方面“一带一路倡议”(Belt and Road Initiative)的大旗下在非洲建设鱼类加工设施。

“China’s local governments are still ambitious to stimulate the industry’s expansion, and reform of fishing subsidies is not yet on the agenda,” said Bolei Liu, a fisheries analyst at Greenpeace.

“中国的地方政府仍在雄心勃勃地希望刺激远洋渔业扩张，渔业补贴的改革尚未提上日程，”绿色和平组织(Greenpeace)渔业分析师Bolei Liu表示。

“China’s far-ocean fishing industry urgently needs to apply the brakes, to prevent it from becoming an issue that damages China’s international image,” he added.

“中国的远洋渔业急需刹车，以免它变成一个损害中国国际形象的问题，”他补充说。

The expansion comes as coastal areas around China pay fishermen to scrap small near-sea boats after fish stocks plummeted. China’s agricultural ministry in 2016 conceded that there were practically “no fish” left in the East China Sea.

推动远洋渔业扩张之际，随着本国沿海的鱼类资源存量大幅减少，中国沿海地区纷纷补贴渔民报废小型近海渔船。中国农业部在2016年承认，东海实际上“没有鱼”了。

Separately, Beijing on Monday announced its first ever seasonal ban on fishing in the Yellow river — the country’s second-longest waterway -— which will last three months and follows similar moratoriums on the Yangtze and Pearl rivers as the country seeks to restore stocks decimated by pollution and overfishing.

此外，北京周一宣布首次在黄河(中国第二长的水道)实行季节性的禁渔期，为期三个月，此前长江和珠江已实行类似的禁渔期。这些措施的目的是试图恢复受到污染和过度捕捞重创的鱼类资源。