Zhoushan is home to 7,629 boats for fishing and fish breeding. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province is striving to become China's pilot city for new-material fishing boats, according to a seminar on the subject held in Zhoushan on Nov 10.

Over the next five years, Zhoushan plans to upgrade 500 fishing boats with new materials and explore a replicable Zhoushan model for the promotion of new-material fishing boats nationwide.

The new materials used to build these fishing boats include glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP), polyethylene, and aluminium alloy, among others.

New materials will help improve facilities on fishing boats and accelerate the transformation of the fishing industry, according to experts at the seminar.

Statistics show that Zhoushan is currently home to 7,629 boats for fishing and fish breeding, 99 percent of which are made of steel and wood. Only 0.14 percent of them are made of GFRP.

Moreover, 45.5 percent of the boats in Zhoushan are more than 20 years old. Thus, upgrading the boats in the city is of utmost importance.

Cai Zhaocai, director of the Zhoushan municipal ocean and fisheries bureau, said that the first GFRP fishing boat in the city was put into service in May of this year, and a new-material fishing fleet will be formed by the end of this year.

Cai noted that Zhoushan has already started upgrading its fishing boats.

In addition, the city is researching construction standards for GFRP fishing boats and plans to build berths exclusively for new-material fishing boats as well as industrial parks for them, according to Cai.