Our project

The socio-ecological consequences of bottom trawling in China

Bottom trawling is a widely used fishing method with well-documented ecological impacts, including non-selective removal of large amounts of marine biomass. Our project, focused in Dongshan, Fujian Province in China, is looking at the socio-ecological costs and benefits of such indiscriminate catches. We are examining what is caught, which species are most at risk, and the biomass and nutritional gains that could be achieved by reducing juvenile bycatch. Field work will examine where fish go after landing and how they are used, providing insights into how catch supply chains influence the fishery. Taken together, the findings will help identify realistic opportunities for management and reform in a globally important area of fisheries conservation.

Goal

Understand the environmental, economic and social consequences of bottom trawling in Dongshan, China, and identify practical approaches for improving fisheries management and encouraging more sustainable fishing practices.

Who

The research is led by Yixuan Chen, PhD candidate and Project Seahorse researcher, with support from Chinese colleagues and institutions including Dr. Min Liu of Xiamen University and Songlin Wang of Qingdao Marine Conservation Society.

What we’re doing

• Understanding the catch: identifying species removed by bottom trawling, especially those that are lumped together as unsorted catch.
• Understanding the consequences: identifying the vulnerability of different fish species to bottom trawling, and the opportunity cost of retaining juveniles of dominant food fish species in unsorted landings.
• Following the catch: tracing where unsorted catches go, how they are used and their role in seafood or aquaculture supply chains.
• Examining policy levers: assessing whether changes to China’s fishery subsidy system, and its implications for bottom trawls, can encourage more sustainable fishing practices.

Funding support

Learn more about how you can support this work:

1. how a major subsidy change relates to fishing practices in a real-world setting  (Download PDF), and
2. how catch supply chains influence the fishery (Download PDF)

[Updated 1 September 2026]