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A new stage in China's marine management
Ocean & Coastal Management 19 (1993) 185-198
Recent Developments and Announcements
A N E W S T A G E IN C H I N A ' S M A R I N E M A N A G E M E N T
Marine uses (coastal and ocean) in the People's Republic of China experienced significant changes in the 1980s. The total ocean contribution to the GNP is roughly estimated at a range of 0-5-2.5 percent. Multiple marine uses, their interactions and consequences, provided a strong impetus to the process of searching for new management approaches to resolve use conflicts, to improve use efficiency, and to protect the environment. The most significant event has been that coastal provinces and other localities have successively taken initiatives to organize marine management authorities within their respective jurisdictions, with a view to increasing the overall socio-economic benefits from the various uses of the ocean and coastal zone. Coastal areas in China's modernization China's coastal development and management assumes an unprecedented importance as a result of implementing the national strategy for modernization. This strategy gives priority to coastal economic development and a higher level of autonomy to the management of coastal areas, creating favourable conditions for foreign investments, joint ventures and other forms of cooperation with overseas entities. In 1991, the country's eleven coastal provinces and municipalities exported goods and services worth $34.75 billion, about 71 percent of the nation's total (or 97.3 percent in terms of exports from the joint ventures alone), and supplied $1.25 billion in revenue through coastal tourist industries, about 50 percent of the nation's total. 1 Consequently, China's coastal development and management has played a leading role in the country's efforts at modernization. Current marine uses and the environment l~shedes. Since the early 1980s, China's marine fisheries increased their production again after decades of stagnation, reaching 12.37 185 Ocean & Coastal Management (19) (1993)--~ 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Northern Ireland
186
Recent Developments and Announcements
million t in 1990. Parallel to increased efforts in resource enhancement and preservation, 2 control for over-investments in fishing efforts and the implementation of measures against illegal fishing practices (e.g., the use of explosives) proved to be very difficult. The stocks of major traditional species groups (yellow croakers, hairtails and cuttlefish, etc) remain depleted, although some initial signs of recovery have been reported. Mariculture is the fastest growing element in China's fisheries, producing 1.62 million t in 1990 from an offshore area of 430,000 hectares. This farmed area accounts for a small part of China's total offshore area which can be cultivated by current technology for seafood and related products.
Offshore energy and hard minerals The country's current offshore oil and gas production (40,000 barrels per day) may not be considered significant in terms of its contribution to the nation's total petroleum production. However, the production is expected to be redoubled by 1995, reaching 100,000 barrels per day? The country's first offshore experimental power station using tidal currents will emerge in the East China Sea where the theoretical tidal current energy reserve is estimated at 3,825 megawatts. 4 Sea salt production contributes 70 percent of the nation's total (20 million t). The salt brines served as raw materials for 470,000 t of 36 chemicals in 1982, including magnesium, bromine, potassium chlorine and so o n ? Over 790,000 t of coastal placers (ilmenite, zircon, and monazite, etc.) were produced in the 1960s and 1970s. For the first time, a large size coal deposit estimated at 1-4 billion t was discovered in the shallow submerged lands of the southern Bohai Sea Bay. 6 Overall, the country's offshore potential for energy and hard minerals remain to be further studied. Shipping, ports and shipbuilding Some 408,000 vessels with a total loading capacity of 38 million t are involved in oceanic, coastwise and river transportation. China Ocean Shipping Cooperation has over 600 vessels of 15 million t in loading capacity, reaching 1,100 ports in 150 countries. Some 960 berths along China's mainland coast handled about 483 million t of cargo in 1990. The number of deep water ports reaches 280. China's largest seaport, the Shanghai Harbour, handles 140 million tons of cargo. 7 The country's annual shipbuilding capacity of about 3 million t is expected to be fully used with increased demand both at home and abroad. In 1991, the country received new orders totalling 1.65 million t for shipbuilding. 8
Recent Developments and Announcements
187
Naval activities China's naval fleet consists of surface ships, submarines, naval air force, coastal defense force and marine corps. The 1980s witnessed improvements in naval coastal and offshore defense systems. The number of battle ships is almost 10 times that of the 1950s. The Navy is also active in ocean mapping, coastal scientific and resource surveys, transportation, emergency response and other civil activities. Waste disposal and the environment By the end of the 1980s, some 20 offshore dumping sites for dredged materials had been designated and 232 permits issued for disposing a total of 100 million cubic meters of these materials. 9 With the building-up of coastal population centers, the annual discharges of municipal sewage reach 7 billion t. The annual discharge of wastes containing pesticides totals 200,000 t. 1° Environmental impact assessments for the dumped materials and for the siting of discharge outfalls are particularly challenging. Although the seas surrounding China are generally considered healthy, the coastal waters are found polluted to various degrees, with nutrients, oil and organics as the main pollutants. For example, red tide events frequently occur in many parts of the coastal waters, causing mass mortality of fishes, shellfishes and shrimps worth several million U.S. dollars in 1989 alone.
Multiple use conflicts Expedited coastal development is accompanied by a heavy burden on the sustainability of natural resources, environmental quality and management. Four large groups of 60 small and medium size cities surrounding one semi-enclosed sea (the Bohai Sea) and three big river deltas respectively have emerged along China's 18,000 kilometers of the mainland coast, accommodating 41 percent of the nation's population, occupying 13 percent of the nation's land area, and contributing 52 percent of the GNP. H Multiple marine use conflicts are largely reported in the coastal area. These conflicts, their socio-economic consequences and the implications of these consequences for coastal and ocean management remain to be characterized and assessed. The major categories of conflicts include local boundary disputes over the use of tidal lands for aquaculture and other purposes, competition for coastal space between fisheries and port development, waste discharge versus aquaculture or recreational activities, the use of coral reefs and mangroves versus coastal ecosystem protection. An immediate consequence of the conflicts is an enhanced awareness of the indaequacy of
188
Recent Developments and Announcements
the existing management system to deal with the conflicts and of the need for innovative approaches.
A search for integrated management Efforts were made in the 1980s on the national, provincial and inter-provincial levels to improve coastal and ocean management: National Efforts. As part of the streamlining of the central government which took place in the late 1980s, the responsibility for 'comprehensive ocean management' assigned to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) was emphasized. The inter-ministerial Leading Group for Marine Resource Development and Protection was terminated after a few years of existence and its remaining activities were transferred to SOA. While the existing ocean related mandates of various government agencies were by and large kept, the division of work among these agencies was further clarified, particularly in the areas of marine environmental protection and ocean mapping. However, much more work is needed to achieve scientific management and coordinated policy in such fields as coastal zone management and marine protected areas. In 1988, following the completion of a seven-year national program of comprehensive coastal zone investigation, SOA further initiated a national program of comprehensive maritime island survey scheduled for completion in 1994, with a view to gaining baseline knowledge about the major environmental and resource parameters of these islands, and to satisfy needs for the related long term planning and immediate development projects. ~2 At the same time, SOA launched a program of 'functional zoning' for China's sea areas (sea-use planning) to facilitate the application of scientific and technological results to marine uses, and to assist efforts to increase overall efficiency and benefits of interactive marine uses.~3 In 1990, five national marine nature reserves were first designated to protect special coastal, island and offshore ecosystems, high biological diversity, coral reefs and mangroves. SOA was given the responsibility for supervising their management. 14 In the field of national ocean related legislation, the most important development has been the enactment by the People's Congress of laws relating to the territorial sea and the contiguous zone. Current attention is given to formulating the coastal zone management act, and to developing the regimes regulating the uses of offshore lands and waters. Laws concerning the E E Z and the continental shelf have not been proclaimed so far.
Recent Developments and Announcements
189
Provincial Efforts. The first provincial 'ocean authority' was created in Hainan in 1988 for comprehensive management of offshore activities under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. Its specific responsibilities include approving applications for development, construction and the laying of submarine cables, pipelines and other man-structures, waste disposal at sea, offshore pretroeum exploration, and scientific research by foreign vessels. 15 Other coastal provinces and even some coastal cities and counties have patterned management activities following the Hainan model. The proliferation of regional and local ocean authorities and agencies led to the convocation of the first National Conference of Marine Work with participation by state leaders, national ocean-related agencies, and provincial and local ocean management units, to take stock of coastal and ocean management practices, signifying the emergence of a new marine management pattern and a new level of national ocean consciousness. Interprovindal Efforts. The coastal provinces surrounding the Bohai Sea took steps in 1988 to organize 'a round table' discussion for possible policy coordination and cooperative projects in the uses of the Bohai Sea and its environmental protection. As a result, a mechanism to facilitate information exchange and to develop joint projects was established. Conclusion China's modernization process started in coastal areas. Coastal development and management play a leading role in the national economy. The diversification and intensification of Chinese marine uses are challenging the existing sectoral management structures to cope with multiple use conflicts and their consequences. Efforts have been made to learn more about the characteristics of the marine environment and resources through nationwide coastal and island surveys and sea-use planning, and to search for methods of integrated marine management. However, new breakthroughs are needed to link related disciplinary and sectoral efforts, to pool information, to assess multiple use interactions and their consequences, and to develop a decisionmaking structure and related processes that better consider these consequences, particularly for coastal zone management. Notes 1. China Ocean News (Beijing), January 1990, 2. 2. Some 10 billion tails of shrimp fry were released during 1954-1988.
190
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
14. 15. 16.
Recent Developments and Announcements
Millions of artificial reefs for fishery resource enhancement and mariculture were constructed. See China Ocean News, October 1991, 1. China Ocean News, October 1991, 1. China Ocean News, January 1992, 1. Marine Affairs in China Today, Social Science Press, Beijing, 1985, 281. See supra Note 5. China Ocean News, October 1991, 1. China Ocean News, January 1992, 2. See supra Note 3. China Ocean News, May 1990, 3. China Ocean News, June 1992, 1. China Ocean News. May 1990, 1. The functional zoning program is to categorize China's seas into five zones: utilization and development; treatment and protection; nature reserves; special functions; and the reserved zones. By the end of 1990, the functional zoning program for the Bohai Sea had been completed as the first phase of the national program. See Mingfeng Li., 'China's Marine Functional Zoning', Ocean and Coastal Zone Management, China Ocean Press, Beijing, 8 1991, 30-33. Qi Chen. China's Marine Nature Reserves. Ocean and Coastal Zone Management, 8 1991, 59-61. China Ocean News, September 1989, 1. China Ocean News, March 1990, 1.
Huming Yu Director, Division for Marine Economics, Research Institute for Marine D e v e l o p m e n t Strategy, State Oceanic Administration, 8, Dai Hui Si Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China.
R E G I O N A L E F F O R T S IN T H E M A N A G E M E N T OF THE COASTAL AND MARINE ENVIRONMENTS IN T H E A S E A N R E G I O N Coastal and marine resources play a critical role in the economic development of m a n y tropical countries in Southeast Asia. The highly productive natural systems found in these areas provide a wide range of
Recent Developments and Announcements
A N E W S T A G E IN C H I N A ' S M A R I N E M A N A G E M E N T
Marine uses (coastal and ocean) in the People's Republic of China experienced significant changes in the 1980s. The total ocean contribution to the GNP is roughly estimated at a range of 0-5-2.5 percent. Multiple marine uses, their interactions and consequences, provided a strong impetus to the process of searching for new management approaches to resolve use conflicts, to improve use efficiency, and to protect the environment. The most significant event has been that coastal provinces and other localities have successively taken initiatives to organize marine management authorities within their respective jurisdictions, with a view to increasing the overall socio-economic benefits from the various uses of the ocean and coastal zone. Coastal areas in China's modernization China's coastal development and management assumes an unprecedented importance as a result of implementing the national strategy for modernization. This strategy gives priority to coastal economic development and a higher level of autonomy to the management of coastal areas, creating favourable conditions for foreign investments, joint ventures and other forms of cooperation with overseas entities. In 1991, the country's eleven coastal provinces and municipalities exported goods and services worth $34.75 billion, about 71 percent of the nation's total (or 97.3 percent in terms of exports from the joint ventures alone), and supplied $1.25 billion in revenue through coastal tourist industries, about 50 percent of the nation's total. 1 Consequently, China's coastal development and management has played a leading role in the country's efforts at modernization. Current marine uses and the environment l~shedes. Since the early 1980s, China's marine fisheries increased their production again after decades of stagnation, reaching 12.37 185 Ocean & Coastal Management (19) (1993)--~ 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Northern Ireland
186
Recent Developments and Announcements
million t in 1990. Parallel to increased efforts in resource enhancement and preservation, 2 control for over-investments in fishing efforts and the implementation of measures against illegal fishing practices (e.g., the use of explosives) proved to be very difficult. The stocks of major traditional species groups (yellow croakers, hairtails and cuttlefish, etc) remain depleted, although some initial signs of recovery have been reported. Mariculture is the fastest growing element in China's fisheries, producing 1.62 million t in 1990 from an offshore area of 430,000 hectares. This farmed area accounts for a small part of China's total offshore area which can be cultivated by current technology for seafood and related products.
Offshore energy and hard minerals The country's current offshore oil and gas production (40,000 barrels per day) may not be considered significant in terms of its contribution to the nation's total petroleum production. However, the production is expected to be redoubled by 1995, reaching 100,000 barrels per day? The country's first offshore experimental power station using tidal currents will emerge in the East China Sea where the theoretical tidal current energy reserve is estimated at 3,825 megawatts. 4 Sea salt production contributes 70 percent of the nation's total (20 million t). The salt brines served as raw materials for 470,000 t of 36 chemicals in 1982, including magnesium, bromine, potassium chlorine and so o n ? Over 790,000 t of coastal placers (ilmenite, zircon, and monazite, etc.) were produced in the 1960s and 1970s. For the first time, a large size coal deposit estimated at 1-4 billion t was discovered in the shallow submerged lands of the southern Bohai Sea Bay. 6 Overall, the country's offshore potential for energy and hard minerals remain to be further studied. Shipping, ports and shipbuilding Some 408,000 vessels with a total loading capacity of 38 million t are involved in oceanic, coastwise and river transportation. China Ocean Shipping Cooperation has over 600 vessels of 15 million t in loading capacity, reaching 1,100 ports in 150 countries. Some 960 berths along China's mainland coast handled about 483 million t of cargo in 1990. The number of deep water ports reaches 280. China's largest seaport, the Shanghai Harbour, handles 140 million tons of cargo. 7 The country's annual shipbuilding capacity of about 3 million t is expected to be fully used with increased demand both at home and abroad. In 1991, the country received new orders totalling 1.65 million t for shipbuilding. 8
Recent Developments and Announcements
187
Naval activities China's naval fleet consists of surface ships, submarines, naval air force, coastal defense force and marine corps. The 1980s witnessed improvements in naval coastal and offshore defense systems. The number of battle ships is almost 10 times that of the 1950s. The Navy is also active in ocean mapping, coastal scientific and resource surveys, transportation, emergency response and other civil activities. Waste disposal and the environment By the end of the 1980s, some 20 offshore dumping sites for dredged materials had been designated and 232 permits issued for disposing a total of 100 million cubic meters of these materials. 9 With the building-up of coastal population centers, the annual discharges of municipal sewage reach 7 billion t. The annual discharge of wastes containing pesticides totals 200,000 t. 1° Environmental impact assessments for the dumped materials and for the siting of discharge outfalls are particularly challenging. Although the seas surrounding China are generally considered healthy, the coastal waters are found polluted to various degrees, with nutrients, oil and organics as the main pollutants. For example, red tide events frequently occur in many parts of the coastal waters, causing mass mortality of fishes, shellfishes and shrimps worth several million U.S. dollars in 1989 alone.
Multiple use conflicts Expedited coastal development is accompanied by a heavy burden on the sustainability of natural resources, environmental quality and management. Four large groups of 60 small and medium size cities surrounding one semi-enclosed sea (the Bohai Sea) and three big river deltas respectively have emerged along China's 18,000 kilometers of the mainland coast, accommodating 41 percent of the nation's population, occupying 13 percent of the nation's land area, and contributing 52 percent of the GNP. H Multiple marine use conflicts are largely reported in the coastal area. These conflicts, their socio-economic consequences and the implications of these consequences for coastal and ocean management remain to be characterized and assessed. The major categories of conflicts include local boundary disputes over the use of tidal lands for aquaculture and other purposes, competition for coastal space between fisheries and port development, waste discharge versus aquaculture or recreational activities, the use of coral reefs and mangroves versus coastal ecosystem protection. An immediate consequence of the conflicts is an enhanced awareness of the indaequacy of
188
Recent Developments and Announcements
the existing management system to deal with the conflicts and of the need for innovative approaches.
A search for integrated management Efforts were made in the 1980s on the national, provincial and inter-provincial levels to improve coastal and ocean management: National Efforts. As part of the streamlining of the central government which took place in the late 1980s, the responsibility for 'comprehensive ocean management' assigned to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) was emphasized. The inter-ministerial Leading Group for Marine Resource Development and Protection was terminated after a few years of existence and its remaining activities were transferred to SOA. While the existing ocean related mandates of various government agencies were by and large kept, the division of work among these agencies was further clarified, particularly in the areas of marine environmental protection and ocean mapping. However, much more work is needed to achieve scientific management and coordinated policy in such fields as coastal zone management and marine protected areas. In 1988, following the completion of a seven-year national program of comprehensive coastal zone investigation, SOA further initiated a national program of comprehensive maritime island survey scheduled for completion in 1994, with a view to gaining baseline knowledge about the major environmental and resource parameters of these islands, and to satisfy needs for the related long term planning and immediate development projects. ~2 At the same time, SOA launched a program of 'functional zoning' for China's sea areas (sea-use planning) to facilitate the application of scientific and technological results to marine uses, and to assist efforts to increase overall efficiency and benefits of interactive marine uses.~3 In 1990, five national marine nature reserves were first designated to protect special coastal, island and offshore ecosystems, high biological diversity, coral reefs and mangroves. SOA was given the responsibility for supervising their management. 14 In the field of national ocean related legislation, the most important development has been the enactment by the People's Congress of laws relating to the territorial sea and the contiguous zone. Current attention is given to formulating the coastal zone management act, and to developing the regimes regulating the uses of offshore lands and waters. Laws concerning the E E Z and the continental shelf have not been proclaimed so far.
Recent Developments and Announcements
189
Provincial Efforts. The first provincial 'ocean authority' was created in Hainan in 1988 for comprehensive management of offshore activities under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. Its specific responsibilities include approving applications for development, construction and the laying of submarine cables, pipelines and other man-structures, waste disposal at sea, offshore pretroeum exploration, and scientific research by foreign vessels. 15 Other coastal provinces and even some coastal cities and counties have patterned management activities following the Hainan model. The proliferation of regional and local ocean authorities and agencies led to the convocation of the first National Conference of Marine Work with participation by state leaders, national ocean-related agencies, and provincial and local ocean management units, to take stock of coastal and ocean management practices, signifying the emergence of a new marine management pattern and a new level of national ocean consciousness. Interprovindal Efforts. The coastal provinces surrounding the Bohai Sea took steps in 1988 to organize 'a round table' discussion for possible policy coordination and cooperative projects in the uses of the Bohai Sea and its environmental protection. As a result, a mechanism to facilitate information exchange and to develop joint projects was established. Conclusion China's modernization process started in coastal areas. Coastal development and management play a leading role in the national economy. The diversification and intensification of Chinese marine uses are challenging the existing sectoral management structures to cope with multiple use conflicts and their consequences. Efforts have been made to learn more about the characteristics of the marine environment and resources through nationwide coastal and island surveys and sea-use planning, and to search for methods of integrated marine management. However, new breakthroughs are needed to link related disciplinary and sectoral efforts, to pool information, to assess multiple use interactions and their consequences, and to develop a decisionmaking structure and related processes that better consider these consequences, particularly for coastal zone management. Notes 1. China Ocean News (Beijing), January 1990, 2. 2. Some 10 billion tails of shrimp fry were released during 1954-1988.
190
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
14. 15. 16.
Recent Developments and Announcements
Millions of artificial reefs for fishery resource enhancement and mariculture were constructed. See China Ocean News, October 1991, 1. China Ocean News, October 1991, 1. China Ocean News, January 1992, 1. Marine Affairs in China Today, Social Science Press, Beijing, 1985, 281. See supra Note 5. China Ocean News, October 1991, 1. China Ocean News, January 1992, 2. See supra Note 3. China Ocean News, May 1990, 3. China Ocean News, June 1992, 1. China Ocean News. May 1990, 1. The functional zoning program is to categorize China's seas into five zones: utilization and development; treatment and protection; nature reserves; special functions; and the reserved zones. By the end of 1990, the functional zoning program for the Bohai Sea had been completed as the first phase of the national program. See Mingfeng Li., 'China's Marine Functional Zoning', Ocean and Coastal Zone Management, China Ocean Press, Beijing, 8 1991, 30-33. Qi Chen. China's Marine Nature Reserves. Ocean and Coastal Zone Management, 8 1991, 59-61. China Ocean News, September 1989, 1. China Ocean News, March 1990, 1.
Huming Yu Director, Division for Marine Economics, Research Institute for Marine D e v e l o p m e n t Strategy, State Oceanic Administration, 8, Dai Hui Si Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China.
R E G I O N A L E F F O R T S IN T H E M A N A G E M E N T OF THE COASTAL AND MARINE ENVIRONMENTS IN T H E A S E A N R E G I O N Coastal and marine resources play a critical role in the economic development of m a n y tropical countries in Southeast Asia. The highly productive natural systems found in these areas provide a wide range of