Aquaculture, the farming of fish in ponds, lakes and tanks, accounts for two-thirds of China's reported output.

In 2005, exports, including aquatic plants, were valued at US$7.7 billion, with Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea as the main markets.

[2] In 2010, China accounted for 60% of global aquaculture production (by volume) and had ~14 million people (26% of the world total) engaged as fishers and fish farmers (FAO).

[16] The fishing grounds range from sub-tropical to temperate zones and include 431,000 square kilometers of continental shelves (within 200 meters deep).

[19] According to a report published in the journal Science Advances in June 2018, Chinese long-distance fishing is only economically viable with state subsidies.

Other commercially important species are bream, reeves shad, eel, cat fish, rainbow trout, salmon, whitebait, mullet, Siniperca chuatsi, perch, sturgeon, and murrel.

Since then, wild inland fishery resources have decreased because of overfishing, dam building, land reclamation for agriculture, and industrial pollution.

In 1978, the government set up organizational structures to deal with these issues, and to stock fish fingerlings in rivers, lakes and reservoirs.

In addition to the unsustainable catch, the rapid development of China's coastal cities and industries has created massive pollution - depleting the habitats and overall fishery numbers as well.

Watson and Pauly suggested this may be related to Chinese policies where state entities that monitored the economy were also tasked with increasing output.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Yang Jian, director general of the Agriculture Ministry's Bureau of Fisheries, as saying that China's figures were "basically correct".

[34] The other factors leading to the increase in China’s fishing fleet are the implementation of the BeiDou navigation/communication system and paramilitary training given to Chinese fishermen.

[32] In December 2022, the United States Secretary of the Treasury issued sanctions on Pingtan Marine Enterprise and related individuals over human rights abuses tied to China-based illegal fishing.

The crew were tried and convicted of illegal fishing with each sentenced to four years in prison and the vessel’s owner was fined six million dollars.

Oceana concluded that this fishing negatively affected sensitive marine life in the region and that Chinese vessels actively sought to evade detection by local authorities, either by practicing illegal transshipment strategies or by disabling onboard public tracking devices.

[37] The exploitation of marine resources by illegal means is a problem acknowledged by Latin American countries on the Pacific coast.

In November, 2020, the governments of Colombia, Chile, Peru and Ecuador released a joint official communique pledging to combat IUU off of its coasts in the coming decade.

[38] The governments of these four countries have pledged to increase international cooperation in the protection of the South American Pacific Coast.

The Chilean government has stated that it aims to aid in the designation of 30% of the ocean as a marine protected area by 2030 in an effort to disincentive IUU fishing.

[41] The so called “dark fleet” has harvested half a billion dollars worth of squid in North Korean waters since 2017.

[43] In 2020 a fleet of Chinese fishing boats attacked Coast Guard Administration and local environmental protection vessels which had been clearing illegal nets in Taiwanese waters.

By a fortunate genetic mutation, this early domestication of carp led to the development of goldfish in the Tang dynasty.

[52] In recent times, China has extended its skills in culturing pond system to open waters such as lakes, rivers, reservoirs and channels, by incorporating cages, nets and pens.

[52] Species introduced from other parts of the world are also being farmed, such as rainbow trout, tilapia, paddle fish, toad catfish, silver salmon, river perch, roach and Collossoma brachypomum.

There are about 1.33 million hectares of marine cultivable areas in China, including shallow seas, mudflats and bays.

[52] Since the 1980s, the government has encouraged the introduction of different marine species, including the large shrimp or prawn Penaeus chinensis, as well as scallop, mussel, sea bream, abalone, grouper and the mud mangrove crab Scylla serrata.

[57]: 170 An opinion piece from the Associated Press claimed that in China the high seas fishing fleet is "a source of national pride" similar to what the U.S. space program was for generations of Americans.”[19]