A Brief Answer: Why is China's Aquaculture Industry so Successful?

Abstract

As wild capture fisheries continue to be exhausted worldwide, aquaculture is being looked as the sustainable solution to meet the global fisheries demand. China is one of the most successful countries in the world when it comes to aquaculture. They produce more fish than they catch, simultaneously providing for their own country and the rest of the world. By contrast, the United States imports over 90% of its fisheries; its aquaculture industry meeting only 5% of the country"s total demand of fish. While the United States prides itself on being a world leader in several fronts, aquaculture is certainly not one of them. This makes anyone question: why is China"s aquaculture so successful? This manuscript works to answer this question briefly by identifying and exploring three notable characteristics of China"s aquaculture industry: (1) history; (2) size and diversity; and (3) government support and research. It goes on to suggest how the U.S. can improve it aquaculture industry based on the Chinese success story.

Development and current state of seawater shrimp farming, with an emphasis on integrated multi‐trophic pond aquaculture farms, in China – a review

“…Along with the fast growth of marine pond aquaculture, and with the development of society, science and technology, the marine pond aquaculture model has been progressively improved and innovated in China, in response to environmental and social issues, regulations and the implementation of best management practices (Farquhar et al . 2017).…”

Cost of regulations on US catfish farms

“…Studies have shown the US regulatory environment to have inhibited industry development (Abate et al, 2016(Abate et al, , 2018Farquhar et al, 2017;Kite-Powell et al, 2013;Knapp & Rubino, 2016). Sluggish and often negative aquaculture growth in Japan, the European Union, and the United States was found to result from stringent regulatory environments (Abate et al, 2016).…”

U.S. hybrid Striped Bass and Red Drum farms: Economic effects of the U.S. regulatory framework

“…13610, 2012). The rapid development and evolution of commercially viable aquaculture technologies has occurred during this period of increasing regulatory burdens in the USA and the European Union (EU), likely contributing to the much slower growth of aquaculture in the USA and the EU (Thunberg et al 1994; Engle and Stone 2013; Kite‐Powell et al 2013; Abate et al 2016; Farquhar et al 2017; Osmundsen et al 2017). Thus, understanding which regulations are most costly and most constraining to both well‐established sectors of U.S. aquaculture and to newer, emerging sectors, is an essential step to develop more streamlined and cost‐effective approaches to governance.…”