A report recently released by London, U.K.-based sustainable finance nonprofit Planet Tracker highlights how deeply China’s distant-water fleet is entrenched in the global tuna industry and whether the Chinese government has the ability, or desire, to effectively regulate its fishing industry.
Titled “Fishful Thinking,” the report points out China’s state-owned companies have cornered the tuna portion of the country’s massive distant-water fishing output, while private companies dominate the less-profitable squid-fishing sector.
The subsidies China hands out to its distant-water fleet have been the subject of scrutiny at ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations to end subsidies leading to overfishing and overcapacity.
China acknowledged some of its vessels do not comply with a 2022 WTO deal limiting subsidies, but pledged to ensure it adheres to the deal’s terms. However, the depth at which the government is entrenched in the nation's tuna-fishing industry and the sector's profitability calls into question whether China will ever effectively regulate its own industry, according to the report.
“State-owned enterprises control at least half of tuna production, which is relatively concentrated, with just 20 vessels – all purse-seiners – accounting for 43 percent of the total catch,” the report said. “Tuna is also far more profitable than the average [species]. This is especially the case for tuna purse seining, with an average estimated gross margin of 37 percent, compared to 14 percent for the overall fleet.”
The Planet Tracker report ranked Chnia's fishing firms by 2022 revenue earnings, emphasizing just how profitable the industry is for the Chinese government and other major investors.
The state-owned China Agricultural Development Company (CADC) hauled in earnings of CNY 1.8 billion (USD 252 million, EUR 234 million) in 2022, ahead of second-ranked Zhejiang Ocean Family, a privately-owned firm that earned CNY 1.2 billion (USD 168 million, EUR 156 million) in revenue.
Ranked third was Pingtan Marine, a firm delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in 2023 after U.S. authorities placed a series of sanctions on the company due to illegal fishing.
Shanghai Kaichuang Marine International, another state-owned firm, ranked fourth, earning CNY 851 million (USD 119, EUR 110 million) in 2022. Kaichuang claims on its website to have the largest tuna purse-seine and trawler fleets in China.
Beijing is not the only place where officials are looking to cash in on tuna profits in the country. A share of the tuna spoils trickles down to ...
