China's fishery resources and aquatic eco-environment remained stable in 2025, according to an official bulletin jointly released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Monday.
In 2025, the national fishery eco-environment monitoring network utilized 48 stations organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to conduct comprehensive surveys across China's four major sea areas, as well as the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins.
The initiative tracked 18 key indicators, including water quality, sediment, and plankton, across 164 vital fishery waters.
The bulletin highlighted significant improvements in water quality, noting that concentrations of zinc, lead, mercury, and arsenic in all monitored areas remained well within safety standards.
The proportion of area exceeding standards for chemical oxygen demand and petroleum in important marine fishery waters fell by 59.3 percent and 45.7 percent, respectively, while petroleum in important inland fishery waters dropped by 34.6 percent.
For the first time, the annual report detailed the specific biodiversity status across major waterways and analyzed broader ecological trends under the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).
Biological surveys recorded 93 species in the Bohai Sea, 202 in the Yellow Sea, 283 in the East China Sea, and 496 in the northern South China Sea. Inland, 351 native fish species were monitored in the Yangtze River basin, alongside 114 in the Yellow River basin.
The document also underscored that the fishery water environment improved steadily during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
In marine environments, the proportion of areas exceeding standards for chemical oxygen demand in key natural marine fishery waters fell by 51.6 percent, while that for inorganic nitrogen in key marine aquaculture areas dropped by 33.7 percent.
In national marine aquatic germplasm resource conservation areas, the proportion of areas exceeding standards for active phosphate and chemical oxygen demand plunged by 55.4 percent and 90.2 percent, respectively.
Inland ecosystems showed similar progress. The proportion of areas exceeding standards for total phosphorus in key river fishery waters fell by 47 percent, while that for total nitrogen in key fishery waters of lakes and reservoirs decreased by 16.5 percent.
In addition, the proportion of areas exceeding the permanganate index standard in national inland aquatic germplasm resource conservation areas dropped by 22.8 percent.
China's fishery resources, aquatic environment remain stable: survey
