China Dialogue Ocean
Does West Africa Benefit from Foreign Trawling?
[By John Virdin] Coastal and island countries are increasingly looking to the sea to provide food and jobs for their growing populations in an uncertain global economy. Roughly one third of the world’s assessed fish stocks are considered overfished. Experience shows that well-managed ocean fisheries can provide large economic benefits. In fact, the World Bank estimates that ocean fisheries could provide US$83 billion more each year if better managed. Many poorer coastal and island countries try to make money by selling access...
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Petrochemical Leak Hits Local Aquaculture Industry in Fujian
[By Feng Hao] One lunchtime in November last year, Zhang Yan, from Xiaocuo, a village in Quanzhou, Fujian province, walked into his kitchen and was met by an acrid odour that made him nauseous. He was cooking sea bass from the family fish farm, near the site of a major chemical leak earlier that month. Despite official notices that local water and air quality are up to standard and aquatic products safe to eat, Zhang is adamant that the leak, of “C9 aromatic solvent”, was...
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China's Marine Reserves: Under New Management
Shedao Island is small, but it’s home to thousands of pit vipers, which wrap themselves around tree branches to ambush small migrating birds. The island, which lies about 10 kilometres south-west of China’s Liaoning peninsula is less than one square kilometre in size. China designated the island as its first marine reserve in 1963 in order to protect the vipers. The State Council expanded it in 1980 to include Laotieshan, a forested mountain area on the nearby mainland that supports egrets, cranes and Mandarin ducks, thereby covering...
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Antarctic Commission Considers Giant Marine Protected Areas
[By Fermin Koop] The future of the Antarctic hangs in the balance. Twenty-four countries and the European Union are meeting in Hobart, Australia, from October 22 to vote on a proposal to extend ocean protections around the South Pole. There have been several failed attempts as countries have strong interests in the region that they want to safeguard. It’s the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), an international organisation that regulates the...
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