Recently, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio tweeted that China depleted its own fish stock in coastal waters and its fishermen have sailed to other oceans across the world to continue deep-sea fishing. Stating further, he even mentioned how this practice raised alarms about the impact on local economies and the commercial sustainability of ocean species to highlight the New York Times articles titled How China Targets the Global Fish Supply and China’s Huge Appetite for Fish.

As a famous public figure and environmentalist, Leonardo DiCaprio’s concern for the environment is proper, however, such concern must be based on investigated facts and accurate data.

To figure out why his accusations are so groundless and seriously wrong, we need to dive into the following four questions and understand several basic facts.

Question one. Where does Chinese people’s fish supply come from? The annual consumption of aquatic products in China is about 68 million tons. In 2021, the total output of aquatic products in China was about 66.9 million tons, among which the output of seawater and fresh water accounted for about 54 million tons, representing 80% of the consumption and total output. Here, the simple truth is that Chinese people mainly rely on local fish supply and that China is the only major fishery country in the world where the aquatic output exceeds the fishing output, and its aquatic output accounts for about 60% of the global total.

Question two. How many fish did Chinese fishermen catch in the sea? With the increasing output of mariculture in China, the amount of marine catch is going downward, and 65% of seafood is farmed. In 2021, China’s mariculture products amounted to 22.11 tons, marine fishing reached 9.51 tons, and in stark contrast, the output of offshore fishing was only 2.25 tons.

Question three. Who on earth is destroying the marine ecology? Is it probably the truth that China plays the fisherman and the developed countries play the consumer? According to the report the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) 2022 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the per capita consumption of aquatic food in most countries increased between 1961 and 2019, with the highest annual growth rate in middle-upper income countries. In terms of amount, China is the largest exporter of aquatic products in the world, while the EU is the largest single importer market, and the United States is the largest importer of aquatic products. According to public data, in 2019, the EU produced 4.82 million tons of fishing, 1.37 million tons of aquatic products and 6.15 million tons of imported aquatic products. Also in 2019, the United States caught more than 4.8 million tons, farmed 490,000 tons and imported 3.36 million tons. Apparently, the output of local aquatic products in Europe and the United States is utterly low, mainly relying on ocean fishing and import. Therefore, it is incumbent on them to take the main responsibility for consuming marine fishery resources.

Question four. What role China is playing in the global supply chain of aquatic products and marine ecological environment? Instead of exploiting the marine environment like some countries, Chinese people choose to intensely develop aquaculture to better preserve the ocean. They also contribute a large number of high-quality aquatic products for people all over the world as the country has turned into a key exporter for many years, with an export of 4.92 million tons in 2020. Fishing moratorium in the high seas is advocated and exemplarily led by China to rally other countries in jointly conserving the resources.

Since the 1990s, China has successively implemented fishing moratorium in the East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea and South China Sea, and the fishing moratorium has been extended from the initial two months to three and a half months, further to four and a half months. Various measures have been taken to strengthen marine ecological conservation, such as increasing aquatic stock propagation and releasing more into natural ecosystems, reducing the number and controlling the power of fishing boats, limiting fishing, and establishing the ecological red line system.

On offshore fishing, China shoulders the responsibility of a major country and promotes the construction of a marine community of shared future. It is strictly required that ocean-going fishing vessels catch and produce in relevant high seas must abide by the management measures of relevant regional fisheries organizations, implement the norms higher than the international standard concerning the monitoring of fishing vessel positions, and actively work with the international community to crack down on illegal fishing. Since 2020, independent fishing moratorium has been implemented in some areas of the Atlantic and Pacific high seas for three consecutive years. In 2022, the fishing moratorium was further extended to the high seas in the northern Indian Ocean, thus achieving the full coverage of the high seas that are not managed by regional fisheries organizations.

In addition, China has established an international performance team for offshore fisheries and fully implemented the performance evaluation of offshore fisheries enterprises. It dispatched the first professional resource survey ship to conduct international fishery resources evaluation and promote the joint survey of squid resources in the high seas of the southwest Atlantic Ocean. It has actively participated in the conference of COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the negotiation of fishery subsidies of the World Trade Organization and the consultation of the eight regional fisheries organizations to which China is a member.

Ample evidence has clearly shown that Chinese fishermen are not fishing aggressively in the ocean but are operating in strict compliance and restraint. The truth is that Chinese fishery has set a brilliant example in conservation and cooperation internationally.

The most striking feature of the sea is inclusiveness. Humanity depends on the ocean. Marine ecology needs the joint conservation by every country. Only friendly consultation, cooperation and joint action can slow down the deterioration of marine ecology and gradually restore marine resources. Stigmatizing the normal fishery behavior of China will not only affect the healthy development of Chinese fisheries, but also harm the global marine ecological protection and sustainable development.

As China moves towards the center of the world stage, it will surely take on more and greater responsibilities for global ocean governance, but it will never take the blame for others. It is also hoped that through this “misunderstanding”, more people can understand the significance of marine fishery protection and all countries can be galvanized for broader cooperation and joint conservation.