About 12,000 fishermen will abandon their fishing boats to make
a living on land in south China's Hainan
Province as a result of two key agreements on Beibu Gulf
demarcation and fishery cooperation between China and neighboring
Vietnam.
The Beibu Gulf Demarcation Agreement and the Beibu Gulf Fishery
Cooperation Agreement, which were signed by the presidents of China
and Vietnam in December 2000, took effect on June 30.
The demarcation agreement settles the long-disputed marine
borders between China and Vietnam, but is creating turmoil in the
lives of the local fisher folk.
A major marine province, Hainan's fisheries industry may be
seriously hurt by the new agreements. Until now, more than 70
percent of the fishing production of the island has come from
Beibu, said Huang Liangsheng, a senior official with the Hainan
Marine and Fishery Department.
Under the new agreements, fishermen will be confined to a
specific area within Beibu Gulf. More than 1,000 fishing boats will
have to leave the traditional fishing ground.
Beibu Gulf, located in the northwest of the South China Sea and
known in Vietnam as the Gulf of Tonkin, provides a good environment
for the breeding and fishing of a number of aquatic species.
"At first, it is hard for us fishermen to get accustomed to the
difficulties arising from the demarcation," said Chen Dawu, whose
family has a 50-ton fishing boat. "But I believe in the care and
support of the government. We are not worried."
"After the agreement goes into effect, the number of fishing
boats entering the Beibu Gulf will be controlled," he noted. "From
the long-term perspective, this will be good for the protection of
fishing resources in the region as well as for the sustainable
development of the fishery industry."
Under the fisheries cooperation agreement, China and Vietnam
will set up a common fishery zone, a transitional area and buffer
areas for small fishing boats.
To minimize the negative impact of relocation, the Hainan
provincial government is helping to resettle fishermen who lost
their fishing areas, said Huang Liangsheng.
He said that most of the 1,000-plus fishing boats that will have
to move to waters to the east and south Hainan Island, the northern
part of South China Sea or fishing grounds around the Xisha,
Zhongsha and Nansha islands are medium and larger vessels.
Another possibility is to train fishermen in industry-related
areas such as aquatic breeding, processing marine products,
distribution and transportation, as well as in non-fishery
industries, Huang said.
Other new programs will be developed to provide job
opportunities.
By using funds allocated by the ministries of finance and
agriculture, Hainan Province established 11 marine products
breeding and processing projects last year, Huang said.
Under a special taxation program, fishing boats moving from
Beibu to the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha areas would be free of
agricultural specialty taxation and protection fees for marine
resources proliferation.
(China Daily July 7, 2004)