Fall in China's Guangdong province's aquaculture exports

Aquaculture exports of Guangdong province, China have been on a continual drop for 28 months due to increased trade barriers, the appreciation of the Chinese renminbi and lack of fishery resources, industry sources said.

The local aquaculture industry would be dealt a critical blow if the trend continues, according to Cen Jian, the head of the Aquaculture Import-Export Association of Zhanjiang City.

Zhanjiang City, surrounded on three sides by the ocean, is an aquaculture processing hub of Guangdong province. Shrimp from neighbouring provinces Hainan and Guangxi are also traded in this city.

In the first three quarters of 2008, exports were at 87,000 tonnes, a drop of 14.4 percent as compared to the same period in 2007.

Except for January's exports which totaled 12,000 tonnes, exports for all the months so far this year hovered at around 9000 tonnes.

This compared unfavourably with the monthly average in 2007 which typically surpassed 10,000 tonnes.

For the first three quarters of the year, exports have suffered double-digit declines for every month, except for February and August.