Fishing bans imposed on Pearl, Yangtze(2)

"The management agencies are turning a blind eye to the lawbreakers. They carry out campaigns only after some news reports expose illegal fishing despite repeated prohibitions," he said.

China has experienced a rapid growth in its fishery industry in recent years, with increasing aquatic product output and prices, as well as soaring exports.

The country's aquatic product output hit 56.1 million metric tons last year, a 4.4-percent annual increase, according to the fishery administration under the Ministry of Agriculture.

The country's exports of aquatic products approached $17.8 billion last year, accounting for nearly 30 percent of its total agricultural product exports, according to the General Administration of Customs.

But experts believed fishery harvests now greatly rely on the booming captive breeding, as the country's wild fishing resources are declining.

For instance, China plans to increase its annual aquatic product output to 60 million tons in 2015, of which more than 75 percent will come from captive breeding, official figures show.

Qiu Yongsong, a researcher with the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, told China Daily on Tuesday that years of over-fishing and pollution triggered by urbanization have led to an obvious decline in wild fishing output and that some rare species have not been seen for years in the rivers and seas.