Xia Yongxiang, director general of Daishan County Fishermen Cooperative, attends the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress, which is being held from March 5 to 11 in Beijing. [Photo/WeChat account: zjzsrbs]

Safety production is still the weak link in the fishery industry in the country and deserves more attention from the central government, a fisherman from Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, said during the panel meeting of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress on March 6.

"Zhejiang is a strong maritime fishery province and the fishery industry is an integral part of Zhejiang's maritime economy and an important way for the province to be part of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Xia Yongxiang, a fisherman and the director general of the Daishan County Fishermen Cooperative.

According to Xia, the province is home to nearly 20,000 fishing boats, more than 600 deep sea fishing boats, and nearly 500,000 professional fishermen.

"Although local governments have always focused on the safety problems of the fishery industry, fishing boat safety supervision is still a problem," noted Xia, adding that major accidents still happen from time to time, especially those between fishing boats and merchant ships.

He suggested that further improvements be made to the regular consultation and coordinated supervision mechanism between departments of maritime affairs, the fishery industry and the coast guard, as well as the enhancement of maritime identification capacity, communications, and intelligent control.

"The reason I came up with the suggestion is because I know that an accident can destroy a family," said Xia.