A trade group representing China’s distant-water fishing industry has partnered with an organization representing members of the Sichuan culinary industry in a bid to drive consumption of domestically caught seafood, which could reduce dependence on international markets that have sanctioned Chinese operations.
During the 2024 Chengdu Zhoushan Oceangoing Aquatic Products and Food Festival, the Zhejiang Distant-Water Fishery Association and the Sichuan Hotel, Restaurant, and Entertainment Association signed a memorandum of understanding to foster domestic collaboration. Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Zhoushan Distant-Water Fishing Association President Chen Jian said China continues to prize its distant-water catch.
“The scale of our ambitions is bigger now; we have brought tuna, squid, and saury, and we hope there will be a big match made between our seafood and Sichuan cuisine which will lead to great cooperation,” Chen said.
On the other side of the MoU, Wu Yun Qin, secretary general of the Sichuan Hotel, Catering and Entertainment Industry Association, said he would encourage his members to purchase from the Zhoushan distant-water fishing industry due to “the quality of products and lower costs of procurement.”
China’s distant-water industry has traditionally been reliant on international buyers for tuna and squid, which makes up 70 percent of the fleet’s catch. However, labor abuse and illegal fishing allegations have resulted in sanctions on some Chinese distant-water fishing firms. One such example came in 2022 when the U.S. barred Dalian Ocean Fishing and Pingtan Marine Enterprise from entry to the American market.
Scrutiny has also come from NGOs, with a recent report from the Environmental Justice Foundation alleging illegal fishing and labor abuses by the Chinese fleet in the Southwest Indian Ocean.
China itself acknowledged that some distant-water fishing firms in the country do not meet the terms outlined in a 2022 World Trade Organization deal meant to limit harmful fisheries subsidies and has pledged to cancel subsidies to these firms.
The country’s distant-water sector relies on those subsidies to turn a profit, especially the less-lucrative squid-fishing fleet. A new report from U.K.-based nonprofit Planet Tracker found many of these companies pay internationally recruited labor lower than Chinese index standards.
Besides alleviating some of these mounting pressures, diverting distant-water catch to the domestic market also ...
