Addressing Controversial Issues in Fisheries’ Management in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

Fishing plays a dominant role in our lives from history to the present. China also has a long history of fishing and is currently a world leader in fishing. People fish for different reasons including fishing as a sport, entertainment, hobby, or relying on fish as a key source of protein. However, this becomes an issue when overfishing occurs because overfishing has a devastating impact on both marine environment and life on land. As a result, countries around the world passed different fishing regulations and laws to protect the environment from harm by preventing overfishing. Other rules and fisheries’ management prevent fishers from carrying out illegal acts in fishing. Yet, the issue does not end here. In China, many controversies have arisen among fishers in regards to fisheries’ management due to different opinions on fishing rules. These controversies are primarily due to the complicated relationship between fishermen and the Chinese government that lead to distrust. The purpose of this study is to explore the controversies in fisheries’ management, specifically in the Seagull Island and Guanlong Island of Guangzhou, China. This is important because by understanding the different opinions of the fishers in these areas, people are able to address some of the common controversial issues in fishing. It is essential to address these controversies because controversies often result in dispute and disagreement, which could ultimately lead to the illegal fishing and the violation of fishing laws. Thus, the study examines some of the common controversies regarding fisheries’ management and proposes ways to address the issues peacefully, effectively, and explicitly. This method of this research includes questionnaire, literature research, and qualitative analysis on the questionnaire responses. The questionnaires were designed to focus on asking about fishers’ opinions on fisheries’ management and their experiences in either the Seagull Island or Guanlong Island of Guangzhou using a Likert scale. The purpose of conducting literature research is to review relevant sources to find ways to address controversial issues. A qualitative analysis is then used to analyze the questionnaire responses from the fishers more in-depth and make inferences based on it. Through analysis, responses from the questionnaire show that most fishers in the two areas understand the fisheries’ management there. It also reveals that they have different opinions on many aspects of the management, which shows controversies. Methods, which include providing education and training programs, from a few literature sources were adopted in addressing these controversies. Limitations, recommendations for future studies, and evaluation of the research process are also discussed in this paper.