Fishery facilities construction and fishers' income: evidence from China

Introduction Increasing fishers' income is central to achieving sustainable fisheries development, while fishery facilities construction, as a form of social overhead capital, ensures the efficient operation of the entire fisheries industry chain. This study aims to examine the relationship between fishery facilities construction and fishers' income. Methods Based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2000–2024, this study first applies the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method to comprehensively assess the level of fishery facilities construction. Fixed-effects and mediation models are then employed to empirically examine the relationship between fishery facilities construction and fishers' income. Results The results show a positive relationship between fishery facilities construction and fishers' income, and this finding remains robust after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Regarding potential mediating channels, fishery scientific and technological innovation, aquatic product output, and fishery industrial agglomeration each exhibit a positive mediating relationship between fishery facilities construction and fishers' income. These three mediators also show sequential and interaction-based mediating relationships. In addition, fishery productivity and fishery disaster intensity provide evidence of alternative mediating mechanisms. Furthermore, the positive relationship between fishery facilities construction and fishers' income is more pronounced in economically developed regions, coastal regions, and regions where fishers have stronger technical capabilities. Discussion The findings of this study not only enrich the theoretical literature on fishery facilities and fishers' income but also provide important insights for the strategic decision-making of governments and fishers. Nevertheless, this study has several limitations, including the lack of sufficiently disaggregated micro-level data and the difficulty of completely eliminating potential endogeneity concerns.