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China has already recognized this fact, and has begun to try to reverse some of its growth. In 2002, China implemented a five-year plan to decommission and destroy 30,000 fishing vessels (7% of total commercial fleet). The program received $33 million dollars worth of funding and participation was voluntary. Most of boats that were scrapped were small and designed to stay close to shore. Another portion of the regulation prohibits the construction of a new boat for any purpose other than to replace a craft with a current license. (26). 5,000 boats and licenses were reportedly discontinued in year one of the program, although the amount of commercial vessels in operation in 2003 and 2004 (as reported to the FAO by China) increased (FAO, 2007).
Also, capture fishing has declined by 13% since 2001 due to fleet reduction programs designed to curb overfishing. Part of these fleet reduction policies include discontinuing the use of old vessels and training out-of-work fishermen in aquaculture. Still, there are a larger number of fishermen than fish farmers: 8.5 million to 4.5 million, respectively (FAO, 2007).
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