Marine fishing and climate change: A China's perspective on fisheries economic development and greenhouse gas emissions

Consistent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have induced irreversible impacts on ocean health, requiring urgent action to ensure the green development of the ocean. Marine fishing, a pillar ocean industry, is a major GHG emissions contributor to the ocean because of its heavy reliance on fuel combustion. However, the increasing GHG emissions from marine fishing is an easily overlooked but essential issue in China. This study offers a diverse perspective by integrating the concepts of total carbon emissions (TC), carbon intensity (CI), and per capita carbon emissions (PC) as indicators into calculation and discussion. To better understand the relationship between GHG emissions and economic development in marine fishing, a comprehensive framework is developed by combining the environmental Kuznets curve, the Tapio elasticity index, and the decomposition model. Results indicated that (1) GHG emissions increased from 16.479 million tons in 2001 to 18.601 million tons in 2020, in which trawlers and gillnetters are the main sources in fishing operations. (2) Compared with TC and PC, CI has been relatively affected by COVID-19 in 2020. (3) GHG emissions and gross marine fishing product (GFP) presented an inverted U-shaped relationship in China; a downward trend came in the 13th Five-year Plan period (2016–2020). (4) Most provinces strongly decoupled GFP and CI. Still, PC and TC need more effort to decouple. (5) GHG emissions promoted by an industry structure driven, though carbon intensity and industry scale aid in GHG emissions reduced.