The Yellow Croaker War: Fishery Disputes between China and Japan, 1925–1935

Abstract

Beginning in the 1920s, the convergence of ecological transformations that originated in China and Japan gave rise to protracted disputes over yellow croaker fishing grounds off of China's southeast coast. These conflicts highlight the importance of transnational perspectives in marine environmental history. Geopolitics influenced patterns of marine resource exploitation, as Japan's diplomatic and military advantage prevented the Chinese government from excluding the Japanese fleet from yellow croaker fishing grounds. Motivated by a mutual understanding of fishery expansion as a way to strengthen the nation-state, Chinese and Japanese exploitation hastened the decline of yellow croaker resources by the late 1930s.