The Upgrading of Fishery Industrial Structure and Its Influencing Factors: Evidence from China

Aquatic products have made an increasingly important contribution to ensuring food security and nutrition. The huge and dynamic aquatic product consumption market in China has created a new consumption pattern, and the transformation and upgrading of the aquatic industry is essential. Using system generalized method of moments (GMM) and fishery industry data from 2003 to 2019 in 31 provinces and regions, this paper constructs the upgrading index of fishery industrial structure and finds that: (1) In general, the upgrading level of China's fishery industrial structure is on the rise, but it is still in its infancy. (2) The upgrading level of the fishery industrial structure in coastal areas is greater than that of inland areas. (3) The level of economic development and the labor productivity of primary fishery industry are the key influencing factors of China's fishery industrial upgrading. (4) By comparing the heterogeneity of the impact of various factors on the upgrading of fishery industrial structure in coastal and inland areas, the impact is mainly in coastal areas. To promote the upgrading of China's fishery industrial structure, this paper puts forward some suggestions.