China starts fishing ban in South Sea

HAIKOU - A two-and-a half month fishing ban will start at noon Wednesday in most part of the South China Sea to rehabilitate marine resources, according to fishery authorities.

The Hainan provincial marine and fishing department said all 8,994 locally-registered fishing vessels are all moored, affecting 35,611 people.

Vessels anchor at a port in Haikou, the capital of South China's Hainan province, May 16, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

The annual fishing ban reinforced since 1999 will last from May 16 to August 1 this year, covering areas north of the 12th parallel of north latitude, including Huangyan Island but excluding most of the Nansha Islands.

The provincial fishing authority said fishing vessels with Nansha Islands fishing permits are mandated to install and switch on vessel positioning equipment so that they would not accidentally enter the banned water areas.

The fishing ban is also applicable to foreign ships.

A spokesman from the South China Fishery Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture said earlier this week that fishing activity of foreign ships in the banned areas will be seen as a "blatant encroachment on China's fishery resources."