{"id":22464,"date":"2025-05-15T10:32:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=22464"},"modified":"2025-05-15T10:32:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T10:32:26","slug":"fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sensationally captured the far reaches of fisheries on the South China sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taken from the International Space Station on May 12, 2025, the telltale photo of dot-like fishing boats has rekindled remote fishing debates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2020, China leads the globe with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/in.mashable.com\/science\/94078\/each-dot-is-a-boat-nasa-astronauts-picture-shows-chinas-vast-fishing-fleet-visible-from-space\"><u>564,000<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;fishing vessels.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With such boating largesse, the space image has generated reactions ranging from thrill to ecological concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Businessman Wang Chun, who recently led SpaceX\u2019s \u201cFram2\u201d mission to the earth\u2019s poles, likened the dots to city light.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chun also cited that the image implies both the best and worst of fishing times, paraphrasing the Victorian novelist Charles Dickens.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Environmental Literacy Council (ELC) on May 4, 2025, China in current times overfishes and transgresses remote waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the South Pacific, China competes with south seas islands, the United States,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/23\/tuna-canneries-in-american-samoa-hail-reopening-of-protected-pacific-fisheries\/\"><u>Samoa<\/u><\/a>, Australia, South American countries, and Europe\u2019s territories.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-china-in-argentina-s-eec\"><strong>China in Argentina\u2019s EEC<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, Argentina keeps military patrols along its&nbsp;exclusive economic zone&nbsp;(EEC)&nbsp;to fend off Beijing\u2019s trawlers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2025\/03\/10\/americas\/argentine-military-hunts-chinese-fishing-vessels\"><u>CNN<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;in March 2025 took aerial photos of shimmering glitter of China\u2019s boats in Argentina\u2019s seas paralleling the latest NASA panoramas. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Around 80% of just some 198 vessels that CNN identified were flying oriental colors. The rest were either from Spain, the overseas territories of the UK or Falkland islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fishing some 200 miles south of Argentina, the entire vessel concentration occupied 150 miles from north to south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-total-hauls\"><strong>Total Hauls<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The remote south Pacific territories and South China Sea are playgrounds for annual hauls of millions of tonnes in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/insights\/prices\/china\/live-fish\/\"><u>live fish<\/u><\/a>. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South China Sea alone provides an equivalent of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/worldfishcenter.org\/publication\/south-china-sea-analyzing-fisheries-catch-data-ecosystem-context\"><u>10%<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;of the yearly fish tonnage of the developing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With over 5 million tonnes in fish cargo coming from this regional sea annually, China takes the lion\u2019s share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The South Pacific on the other hand is home to 44% of the world\u2019s total fishery capture, per FAO\u2019s 1996 data.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Beijing offering full subsidies for vessels that can reach the global south, catches in the south Pacific are high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, NASA\u2019s latest space photo evidence only underpins the expanding fisheries of China at home and far. The statistics below capture the bigger picture.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-statistics-of-china-fisheries\"><strong>Statistics of China Fisheries &nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>China holds about 15 to 20% of the world\u2019s fish captures annually, as of 2022. This is double that of second place Indonesia and Peru, at 8% apiece. According to the European Council on Foreign Relations (<a href=\"https:\/\/ecfr.eu\/publication\/fish-and-ships-chinese-fishing-and-europes-indo-pacific-strategy\/\"><u>ECFR<\/u><\/a>), China\u2019s fishing impetus picked up by 15.6% from 2005 to 2016. Its large fleet of trawling boats continued to grow amid falling catches in more recent years. The growth in boat count partially owes to governmental fishing subsidies, where&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ecfr.eu\/publication\/fish-and-ships-chinese-fishing-and-europes-indo-pacific-strategy\/\"><u>94%<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;of the subsidies support energy costs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>many&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>fishing boats from China fish in remote seas<\/strong>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Data by the China\u2019s government is that 2,500 ships make it to Indo-Pacific waters while independent studies claim&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2020-12-19\/how-china-is-plundering-the-worlds-oceans\/12971422\"><u>17,000 boats<\/u><\/a>. Comparably, the United States\u2019 long distance boats number 300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where does China makes its largest fish<\/strong><strong>ing<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;landings<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Around&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2020-12-19\/how-china-is-plundering-the-worlds-oceans\/12971422\"><u>15.2 million tonnes<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;of fish land each year in China or up to 20% of the world\u2019s catches. &nbsp;Much of the catches emanate from the South China Sea and the South Pacific. China&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ecfr.eu\/publication\/fish-and-ships-chinese-fishing-and-europes-indo-pacific-strategy\/\"><u>claims about 80%<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;of the South China Sea territory, which produces between 5 and<a href=\"https:\/\/cil.nus.edu.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/2.-Dr.-Simon-FUNGE-SMITH-Capture-fisheries-in-the-South-China-Sea.pdf\"><u>&nbsp;10.3 million<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;tonnes of fish annually. This portion is equal to 10% of the developing world\u2019s annual landings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How high is&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>seafood<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;consumption in China<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>China leads global seafood consumption by utilizing around&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2020-12-19\/how-china-is-plundering-the-worlds-oceans\/12971422\"><u>36%&nbsp;<\/u><\/a>of the world\u2019s yearly landings. The country therefore needs to either import or fish outside its sovereign waters to meet the significant domestic demand.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sensationally captured the far reaches of fisheries on the South China sea. Taken from the International Space Station on May 12, 2025, the telltale photo of dot-like fishing boats has rekindled remote fishing debates. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2020, China leads the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.3 (Yoast SEO v20.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sensationally captured the far reaches of fisheries on the South China sea. Taken from the International Space Station on May 12, 2025, the telltale photo of dot-like fishing boats has rekindled remote fishing debates. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2020, China leads the...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-15T10:32:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-15T10:32:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ISS-40_Taiwan_and_part_of_mainland_China_at_night.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/\",\"name\":\"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-15T10:32:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-15T10:32:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\",\"description\":\"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\",\"name\":\"Timothy Wahome\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Timothy Wahome\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","og_description":"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sensationally captured the far reaches of fisheries on the South China sea. Taken from the International Space Station on May 12, 2025, the telltale photo of dot-like fishing boats has rekindled remote fishing debates. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2020, China leads the...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/","og_site_name":"Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","article_published_time":"2025-05-15T10:32:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-15T10:32:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ISS-40_Taiwan_and_part_of_mainland_China_at_night.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Timothy Wahome","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Timothy Wahome","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/","name":"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space - Selina Wamucii | Food &amp; Agriculture News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-15T10:32:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-15T10:32:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/05\/15\/fisheries-of-china-dominate-the-world-as-seen-from-space\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fisheries of China dominate the world as seen from space"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/","name":"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","description":"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8","name":"Timothy Wahome","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Timothy Wahome"},"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22464"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22466,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22464\/revisions\/22466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}