China is scheduled to build 100 artificial fishing banks in 10 years' time in order to improve and restore the oceanic environment and quality.

As reported, the coming ten years will see south China's Guangdong Province to build 12 sea sections with altogether 100 artificial fishing banks along its seacoast. These artificial fishing banks, to be built in the 3600-mu of seawaters for fry and shrimp, will improve and resume the oceanic environmental quality there, according to a Guangdong official at an international forum held in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong Province in east China.

Artificial banks mean to put into the water some manmade built-ups to improve sea areas for the breeding, reproduction and growing-up of oceanic living beings, thus to protect and better use the resources and increase benefits as well.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, China has made experimentation on setting up artificial fishing banks but failed. During the Fourth Session of Ninth Guangdong Provincial People's Congress last February, the proposal of "Building Artificial Fishing Banks and Protecting Oceanic Fishing Environment" was put jointly forward by 158 delegates, and fully approved by all members after discussion.

As China's important coastal fishing province, Guangdong is of rich oceanic resources. Although great development in fishing industry has been achieved since the strategy of "Building Guangdong into Important Oceanic Economy Province" was set forth some ten years ago or so, the excessive fishing has damaged the oceanic resource environment of the province.

(People’s Daily 09/13/2001)