Authorities in Zhoushan city, East China's Zhejiang province, cooperated with the Yangtze River region fishery supervision and administration office to provide jobs to fishermen along the river, local media reported on Dec 2.

The move has been made in response to China's ban on fishing the depleted Yangtze River in the next 10 years, to revive stocks and curb biodiversity degradation of the major waterway.

As a result, nearly 4,000 fishermen in Guizhou province lost their jobs while the distant-water fishery industry in Dinghai, a district of Zhoushan, will be shorthanded after distant-water fishing boats return to Zhoushan Port next year.

Distant-water fishing is a term to describe fishing outside their own territories and usually extending range of operations to faraway places.

"The distant-water fishery industry is short of more than 2,000 workers each year," said Gong Jinjiao, secretary-general of the Dinghai Ocean Fisheries Association, "After the COVID-19 epidemic is brought under control, we plan to recruit workers among the Yangtze River fishermen."

In October, the distant-water fishery association in Dinghai organized for 14 local companies to employ fishermen in Guizhou to work as sailors in Zhoushan.

"Most of our retired fishermen have reached an old age and have no other working skills," said Chen Shanzhong, secretary-general of Guizhou Fisheries Association, adding that Zhoushan had acted to help solve the big problem.

On Nov 25, the Guizhou Fisheries Association signed cooperation agreements with Dinghai Ocean Fisheries Association and Zhoushan Jifeng Seamen Service Co. The agreement states that the Zhoushan company will train local retired fishermen and help them find jobs in the city.

According to Chen, fishermen aged 18-45 will be the first group of beneficiaries of the cooperation.

Gong noted that if Guizhou's fishermen could not adapt to the distant-water work, seafood products processing companies in Dinghai would offer jobs to them and their family members.