Introduction: The sustainable development of marine fisheries has been a major concern, with the carrying capacity of marine fishery resources becoming a focal point of research.Methods: This study, utilizing remote sensing data, marine capture fisheries catch data, and fishing effort data from 2013 to 2020, aims to determine the maximum sustainable yield using a surplus production model and provide a comprehensive assessment of the status and potential of China’s marine fishery resources.Results: The results indicate that China’s marine fishery resources exhibit significant regional variability, with the East China Sea contributing the largest share of catch and maintaining sustainability, while regions such as the South China Sea, Yellow Sea, and Bohai Sea have exceeded their ecological carrying capacities. Correlation analysis highlights that nutrient levels and water quality (e.g., chemical oxygen demand) are critical for resource stability, while the distribution and management of protected areas further influence carrying capacity.Discussion: This study contributes to the development of more effective fishery policies, aiming to balance economic benefits with ecological health. By understanding these dynamics, policymakers can better address the challenges facing sustainable marine fisheries.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged as a fundamental process for achieving the balanced development of marine ecology, economy, and society. However, increasing conflicts among multiple marine uses, particularly between port development, industrial activities, fisheries, recreation, and ecological protection, highlight the pressing demand for robust and science-based planning tools. In this study, we propose an integrated analytical framework for multi-objective spatial suitability evaluation to optimize MSP. Using the coastal waters of Dalian, China, as a case study, we evaluated the spatial suitability of five key marine activities (ecological protection, mariculture, port construction, wind energy farm development, and coastal tourism) and applied a multi-criteria decision-making approach to inform spatial zoning. The results emphasize the region’s ecological significance as providing critical habitats and migratory corridors for protected and threatened species as well as fishery resources, while also revealing substantial spatial overlaps between conservation priorities and human activities, particularly in nearshore zones. The optimized zoning scheme classifies 22.0% of the coastal waters as Ecological Redline Zones, 32.4% as Ecological Control Zones, and 45.6% as Marine Exploitation Zones. This science-based spatial classification effectively reconciles ecological priorities with development needs, providing a spatially explicit and policy-relevant decision support tool for MSP.