Tag: China

The Sea Around Us research associate, Dr. Vicky Lam, presenting at the International Symposium on Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in Major River Basins, in October 2025.

Reflections from Wuhan: A marine economist walks into a river basin symposium

The Sea Around Us research associate, Dr. Vicky Lam, presenting at the International Symposium on Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in Major River Basins, in October 2025.

The Sea Around Us research associate, Dr. Vicky Lam, presenting at the International Symposium on Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in Major River Basins
(October 24–26, 2025).

By Dr. Vicky Lam.

When the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute invited me to Wuhan to deliver a keynote at the International Symposium on Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in Major River Basins (Oct 24–26, 2025), my first reaction was equal parts excitement and mild panic. I am trained primarily as a marine fisheries economist, so this symposium, which focused on river basins, represented a new domain for me. It was my first time presenting freshwater reconstruction work to an audience whose expertise is deeply rooted in inland systems.

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Daniel Pauly presenting before the European Parliament, January 24, 2023

Sea Around Us presents report findings at the European Parliament

Daniel Pauly presenting before the European Parliament, January 24, 2023

Daniel Pauly presenting before the European Parliament, January 24, 2023. Photo by Anton Kuech, Twitter

The Sea Around Us Principal Investigator, Dr. Daniel Pauly, and Project Manager, Dr. Maria ‘Deng’ Palomares, participated in a session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries on January 24, 2023, to answer questions related to the report Role and impact of China on world fisheries and aquaculture.

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Popular fish in China would increase in value if they were caught with larger meshes

Popular fish in China would increase in value if caught with larger meshes

Popular fish in China would increase in value if they were caught with larger meshes

Largehead hairtail. Public domain photo.

Fish that are highly valued by Chinese consumers, such as largehead hairtail, would grow in value and in the amounts that are caught if industrial fisheries increased the mesh size of their nets.

New research by the Sea Around Us initiative at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries found that trawlers operating in China’s coastal waters are overfishing 21 economically important species because the mesh size is so small that, together with large, desirable fish, undersized fish are also getting caught. This means that fish are being taken out before they are able to reproduce.

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China’s Bohai Sea left with only tiny fish

China’s Bohai Sea left with only tiny fish

China’s Bohai Sea left with only tiny fish

Japanase sardinella. Image by Totti, Wikimedia Commons.

Smaller fish and invertebrates, such as gazami crab or Japanese sardinella, are replacing larger, more commercially valuable fish such as largehead hairtail in the Bohai Sea in northeastern China.

A new study by scientists with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries shows that industrial fisheries have severely affected food webs in the Bohai Sea, with organisms that occupy lower levels in the food web becoming more common than larger predators.

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Instructors and participants at the CMSY workshop in Qingdao.

Sea Around Us co-hosts successful CMSY workshop in Qingdao

Instructors and participants at the CMSY workshop in Qingdao.

Instructors and participants at the CMSY workshop in Qingdao.

In June 2019, the Sea Around Us PI, Dr. Daniel Pauly, and Project Manager, Dr. Deng Palomares, co-hosted a successful, three-day workshop at the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in Qingdao, a city on China’s Yellow Sea coast. They were assisted by graduate student Lu Zhai and long-time Sea Around Us collaborator Dr. Liang ‘Elsa’ Cui.

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