What drives the growth of china's mariculture production? An empirical analysis of its coastal regions from 1983 to 2019.

Abstract

China's mariculture (i.e., seafood farming in the ocean) production has grown rapidly. It ranks the first in the world and has made a huge contribution to solving human food security and nutrition issues. This study aimed to examine the development process of China's mariculture since 1983, clarify the main driving factors for the growth of mariculture production, and analyze whether China's experience can help other major producers in the world. Using the data on China's 10 coastal regions, this study applied the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) from both the national and regional perspectives to analyze the main driving factors for the growth of China's mariculture production from 1983 to 2019. The results indicate that China's total mariculture production showed an overall upward trend and the major driving factor for the increase changed from the initial labor force to unit production. The primary factor for the increase in the Circum-Bohai Sea was labor, whereas that in the South China Sea, Yellow Sea and East China Sea was unit production. China's mariculture production has expanded from resource-driven to efficiency-driven. This study has practical significance for policy formulation and the future development direction of mariculture. This study provides a universally applicable methodology, and has reference significance for the world's major mariculture producers to further study the sustainable growth of mariculture production.