China aims to boost supply of high-quality aquatic products by 2030

BEIJING -- China aims to significantly increase the supply of high-quality aquatic products by 2030 under a recently issued national fisheries development plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Tuesday.

By 2030, China aims to keep the area of waters used for fisheries stable, further optimize the industry's structure, and achieve both higher quality and reasonable growth in quantity, according to the plan.

By then, China is expected to make steady progress in modernizing facility-based fisheries, accelerate breakthroughs in core technologies and equipment, and expand the use of big data and artificial intelligence (AI).

Other targets for 2030 include continued improvement in the Yangtze River's aquatic biological integrity index, a slower decline in marine fishery resources, and stable growth in populations of rare species, according to the plan.

Fisheries governance capacity is expected to be significantly strengthened, and the safe operation of marine fishing vessels should remain stable.

To promote high-quality aquaculture, China will stabilize and expand aquaculture areas and upgrade freshwater aquaculture and mariculture, according to the plan.

For safe, regulated and sustainable capture fisheries, the country will strengthen total catch management, keep the annual domestic marine catch within 10 million metric tons, and manage fishing vessels under a classification and grading system.

The plan calls for continued implementation of the 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River and stronger protection of fishery resources, aquatic ecosystems and aquatic wildlife.

To foster new quality productive forces in fisheries, China will improve the breeding of aquatic species, upgrade facilities and equipment, and expand AI applications.

The plan emphasizes China's responsibilities as a major fishing country and calls for developing modern distant-water fisheries, participating more deeply in global fisheries governance and expanding practical international cooperation in fisheries.

China produced 76.52 million tons of aquatic products in 2025, and its aquaculture output reached 63.26 million tons, more than half of global aquaculture output, official data showed.

The country is one of the 10 parties to the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean, which imposes an initial 16-year ban on commercial fishing in the area and provides for a joint scientific research and monitoring program.