Granting quasi-property rights to aquaculturists to achieve sustainable aquaculture in China

The quality of the aquaculturists' rights over their farms plays a vital role in achieving sustainable aquaculture industry. In effect, ownership over natural resources in the light of private law is not established because it is not tradable in China. But the users' rights over the natural resources have already been recognized under the current Chinese laws. This paper introduces concept of property rights, describes and analyzes the aquaculturists' rights over the farms under the current Chinese laws. Because of flow of water, agricultural nature, and so-called State ownership over the natural resources, fish farms present a complicated property rights problem in China. Some flaws in the aquaculturists' rights are identified under the existing laws. To protect the interests of farmers and to pursue sustainable aquaculture, quasi-property rights should be granted to fish farmers. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.