A multidimensional analysis of marine capture fisheries in China’s coastal provinces

China (herein referred as China’s mainland, and excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) is the largest contributor to global seafood production. While China’s marine fisheries have been extensively documented, there is a gap in systematically quantifying production of its marine fisheries and the different challenges confronting them at the provincial level. We addressed this gap in spatial detail by providing a review that compares and contrasts the exploitation history of China’s fisheries at both the national and provincial levels based on official statistical data. We expanded upon this to explore aspects of bio-socio-economic challenges faced by the country’s 11 fishing provinces. Our analysis suggested that significant increases in domestic marine catches in China have been accompanied by escalating fishing power, which has had differential impacts at the provincial scale. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) sharply declined at both the national and provincial scales, and many traditionally targeted demersal fish stocks showed clear downward trends in terms of catches. The 11 fishing provinces in China can be grouped into four clusters with distinct biological, social, and economic attributes. Targeted measures are recommended accordingly when implementing fisheries management measures for each specific fishing province in order to deliver an overall improvement in the sustainability of China’s marine fisheries.