Trap or Opportunity: Impact of the Fishing Ban Compensation Policy on the Income of Returning Fishermen in China

Ji Feng, Yali Wen (), Huiyuan Zhang (), Yilei Hou and Zhe Zhang
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Ji Feng: Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Yali Wen: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Huiyuan Zhang: Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Yilei Hou: School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Zhe Zhang: Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: The conflict between biodiversity conservation and economic development is intense in developing countries. With the decline in biodiversity, the Chinese government imposed a 10-year fishing ban in the priority waters of the Yangtze River Basin, which resulted in many fishermen losing their livelihood. However, a compensation policy was subsequently introduced. To investigate the impact of the ban, we conducted a two-year study using balanced panel data and the PSM-DID model for 365 households in the Poyang Lake area and introduced fixed effects to discuss the impact of the Yangtze River fishing ban compensation policy on the income of returning fishermen and their choices for alternative income. We also explored the interactive effects of fishing ban compensation and other biodiversity conservation policies on their income. The results showed that the fishing ban negatively impacted the agricultural income of households but not the total household income, and the compensation somewhat subsidized the fishermen’s loss of income. Moreover, this was an opportunity for farmers to adjust their livelihood strategies. These findings improve our understanding of the impact of this fishing ban and compensation policy on the household incomes of returning fishermen and their adaptive strategies for alternative income.

Keywords: fishing ban compensation; returning fishermen; income increase effect; impact evaluation; livelihood transformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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