China's distant- water fishing fleet Scale, impact and governance

Abstract

Much of distant-water fishing (DWF) takes place in the territorial waters of low-income countries. As well as competing against the interests of local people, DWF in low-income countries is often associated with unsustainable levels of extraction, and with illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. China’s DWF fleet is the largest in the world, and so is thought to have significant effects on the environment and socioeconomic impacts in developing countries. Researchers investigated the size and operations of China’s DWF fleet using big data analytic techniques, ensemble algorithms and geographic information systems (GISs).