The 2021 Sino-Vietnamese Joint Event for Propagation, Release and Maintenance of Fishery Resources in the Beibu Gulf was held at the Beilun River estuary in Dongxing City, Guangxi Province near the border with Vietnam on May 10. Nearly 56 million shrimp and fish larvae, including those of blackhead seabream and others, were released into the Beibu Gulf. 

Yu Kangzhen, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, and Li Bin, Vice Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, attended the event and delivered speeches. Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, and Xiong Bo, Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam, sent video messages to the event. 

China and Vietnam have conducted similar fish propagation and release events three times since 2017. China has cultured and released more than 84 million red seabream, crimson snapper, yellow grouper, redtail shrimp, and banana prawn larvae. According to China’s monitoring and estimation, the recapture rates for blackhead seabream and redtail shrimp are 17.29% and 32.19%, respectively, indicating a direct input-output ratio of 1:5.59. It is estimated that Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces released over 3 billion larvae of various aquatic species into the Beibu Gulf during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), effectively promoting restoration of fishery resources as well as increasing the income of fishermen and economic benefit to fisheries in both China and Vietnam. 

In recent years, China has implemented a range of major fisheries policies and measures, including setting total allowable catches for marine fishery resources, implementing marine fishing moratorium for midsummer, establishing the 10-year Yangtze fishing moratorium, undertaking fish propagation and release, as well as developing sea ranching. China has also conducted a series of dedicated law enforcement operations to promote sustainable development and the greening of fisheries.   

Attending the activity were representatives from the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the China Coast Guard, and competent authorities of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan provinces, as well as representatives from the Vietnamese embassy in China.