Abstract

China seeks to improve the utilization and conservation of marine resources during its 14th Five-Year Period. This is a challenging task considering its poor performance in marine fisheries governance over the decades. This study attempts to elucidate the latent root cause of China’s poor marine fisheries governance through a systematic review of its policies in fisheries conservation. Results show that although some individual policies are accountable for the low efficacy of China’s marine fisheries governance, a fundamental obstacle stems from the internal contradictions of the policy system. Thus, to improve the governance of marine fisheries in China, a more careful institutional design at the top level is needed. The findings of this study can help provide a new window into China’s marine fisheries governance in the past and future.