As humanity’s moral failure leads to wild aquatic resources decline, habitat destruction and community tension, an ethically sound path towards good governance is increasingly needed globally. To epitomize sustainable paradigm shifts of grassroots practicalities in the fish sector, an ethical governance framework is initially conceptualized with a meta-governance infrastructure and a value-based decision-making mechanism. The ethical approach is then contextualized by using fish-specific evidence and outlining evolution of participatory fisheries and aquaculture management in rural China as a case study. The empirical investigation of socio-ecological justice manifested in social empowerment, ethical conduct and ecological resilience reveals that in China: fisheries and aquaculture governance models have been transforming from hierarchical governance to integrated governance combining hierarchy, market and community; participatory ethics are embedded in civil organizations upgraded from fishery association, offices, leagues to societies and cooperatives, indicating a multi-stakeholder governance mechanism steered by the government as meta-governor; villagers’ committees play a critical intermediary role in extending township governance and promoting autonomy of fishermen (farmers); local knowledge and traditional code of conduct regulates fish activities of fishermen (farmers) ready for community cooperation and mutual assistance; fish communities adopt socio-ecological measures to ensure property rights to fish (farm) and conserve aquatic resources. The current study aims to provide value reference in leveraging justified policy tools while promoting legitimacy of fish grassroots governance, in hope of contributing to a greener future of fisheries and aquaculture worldwide.

Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) in China have made incalculable contributions to the supply of aquatic products, employment, and social stability. Despite their importance, aspects such as the complexity, dynamicity, and vulnerability of SSFs are yet to receive sufficient attention either from the Chinese government or from society. Here we help to address the lack of recognition of SSFs by examining their characteristics and possible management solutions. We selected Shengsi County, a community with traditional fishing activities, in Zhejiang Province as a case study to review and examine the SSFs’ characteristics and policies. We aimed to explore the improvement strategies for Chinese SSF management by using data from the open-access government databases, a series of questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews, and a collection of national and local SSF-related legislative and policy documents. Here we summarized the physical characteristics of the small-scale fishing vessels and the socioeconomic aspects of SSFs in Shengsi County. Our findings indicate that unprecedented new institutional arrangements for SSFs have been developed in recent years at the national level, and some relevant policies of SSFs also exist at the local level. However, there are still gaps: The concept of SSFs and the goal of their management have not been developed either at the national or local levels; monitoring systems have not yet been established for collecting SSF-related data; fishers engaged in SSFs are still not well organized; cooperation and coordination between different government departments with management authority over SSFs are insufficient; the local government’s response to the central government’s initiatives was slow. Our findings show that the Chinese government could improve SSF management by adopting on an ongoing basis the following suggestions: (1) better define SSFs and set management goals according to their characteristics; (2) develop a monitoring system for SSFs’ data and information collection and promote multidisciplinary research on SSFs; (3) establish SSFs’ cooperatives as soon as possible; and (4) develop coordination and cooperation mechanisms among government departments. This research can provide a reference for the Chinese government to understand SSFs better and contribute to the implementation and improvement of SSFs’ differentiated management in China.

With the entry into force of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (the Agreement), its interaction with existing institutional bodies has become an immediate governance challenge. Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), as the primary institutions regulating high seas fisheries, represent one of the earliest and most consequential arenas in which this interaction will unfold. This study moves beyond the “not undermine” debate and inquires whether the mechanisms and practical conditions needed to turn mutual deference into effective coordination are in place. Using Stokke’s effectiveness-oriented institutional interaction framework, it combines legal analysis, coding of 11 negotiation summaries and expert consultations to examine potential interaction across all four pillars of the Agreement. The analysis reveals that the Agreement provides a generally supportive legal basis for coordination and cooperation. However, its interaction mechanisms do not by themselves ensure constructive interaction in practice. Such interaction requires clear operational rules, careful management of overlapping regulatory roles, early and meaningful RFMO participation and proper evaluation of RFMO input. It will also depend on whether RFMOs give practical effect to the relevant decisions, recommendations and standards adopted under the Agreement through their own decision-making. States participating in both regimes will be central to this process. They will carry BBNJ outputs into RFMO processes, while RFMO knowledge, practices and institutional responses will shape how the Agreement is applied to high seas fisheries. Implementation will therefore be a reciprocal process in which each regime shapes and is shaped by the other. Readiness on both sides will be essential if this relationship is to support more coherent and integrated ocean governance.