Driving Factors and Spatiotemporal Characteristics of CO(2) Emissions from Marine Fisheries in China: A Commonly Neglected Carbon-Intensive Sector

The CO(2) emissions from marine fisheries have a significant impact on marine ecology, despite generally being overlooked in studies on global climate change. Few studies have estimated the carbon emissions from marine fisheries while taking into account all pertinent sectors. This study evaluated marine fisheries’ CO(2) emissions based on three sectors: marine fishing, mariculture, and the marine aquatic product processing industry. Kernel density estimation and the spatial Durbin model were used to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics and the key socioeconomic drivers of the CO(2) emissions from marine fisheries in 11 coastal provinces of China from 2005 to 2020. The results are as follows: (1) marine fishing is the sector that produces the most CO(2) emissions; trawling operations generate more CO(2) than all other modes of operation combined; (2) China’s marine fisheries’ CO(2) emissions show a rising, then declining, trend, with significant differences in coastal provinces; (3) the development of the marine fishery economy and trade have a positive driving effect on CO(2) emissions, the expansion of the tertiary industry does not decrease CO(2), the technical advancement and income growth of fishermen are negatively related to carbon emissions, and the effect of environmental regulation has failed to pass the significance test; (4) the carbon emissions of marine fisheries have significant spatial spillover effects.