Over 1,000 fishing ships set sail from the shelters and ports of Zhuhai on Aug 16 during a grand ceremony held at Hongwan Central Fishing Port to mark the end of the recent 107-day fishing ban in the South China Sea that day.

With high expectations of good catches, fishermen debugged machines and put fishing equipment in order to be well prepared for the start of the fishing season.

Fishing ships set sail to the South China Sea [Photo by Wu Changfu / Zhuhai Daily]

Liang Xiu'an, one of the fishermen, said that his crew will sail to the sea area 30 nautical miles south of Wanshan Island and is expected to return after one week with 10,000 to 20,000 kilograms of catches.

Liang Wei, chairman of the Xiangzhou Fishery Association, said that the Zhuhai government has given out free anti-COVID-19 pandemic materials, as well as living and security ensuring materials to fishermen before departure. 

Commonly seen wild sea products like hairtail fish and squid are already available at markets, while other off-sea seafood will arrive in around one week after the restart of the fishing season.