China's aquatic products will hit 60 million tons by 2010, up 18 percent on that of 2005, according to the country's 11th Five-year Plan (2006-2010) for the fishery industry, revealed by the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday.

 

Of the total, 45.50 million tons will come from aquaculture, an increase of 34 percent from the 34 million tons in 2005.

 

The remaining 14.5 million tons will come from inland and ocean fishing, a decrease of 17 percent over 2005.

 

A fishery official from the ministry said the decreased production is due to the global decline of fishery resources in the oceans.

 

The overall amount of aquatic products will be increasing at an annual rate of 3.3 percent, the plan says.

 

The plan expects the country's per capita consumption of aquatic products to rise to 12 kilograms per year.

 

The plan stresses the need to protect the marine environment in aquiculture through better planning and the use of environmentally-friendly technologies.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2006)