Analysis on the relationship between fisheries economic growth and marine environmental pollution in China's coastal regions

Abstract With the development of the fishery economy, marine environmental pollution has also been intensified in China's coastal areas in recent years. Based on the fishery economy and environmental pollution data in China's coastal areas in 2001–2017, this article i) quantifies the fishery economic and demographic trends over the past 17 years; ii) compares the difference in fishery economy and environmental pollution among the seas by the variation coefficient; iii) explores the relationship between the fishery added value (FAV)—marine pollution area and per capita net income of fishermen (PCNIF)—marine pollution area ratio by the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) model. The results show that i) the compound annual growth rate of FAV, FAV per capita, and fishery population are 8.35%, 8.61%, and −0.24%, respectively. ii) the difference in FAV per capita increased significantly, and in marine pollution area and marine pollution area ratio reduced considerably among the seas over time. iii) the relationship between FAV—marine pollution area and PCNIF—marine pollution area ratio in Total Sea and East China Sea show an inverted N-shape; FAV—marine pollution area and PCNIF—marine pollution area ratio in South China Sea show an inverted U-shape; FAV—marine pollution area and PCNIF—marine pollution area ratio in Bohai and Yellow Sea separately show an inverted U-shape and an N-shape.