The Quanzhou municipal government announced on its official website on Wednesday that it has established dedicated recommended routes and safety zones for fishing vessels, marking a first in East China's Fujian Province.

Along with safety warning zones at busy commercial-fishing vessel intersections between commercial and fishing vessels, the initiative is expected to enhance safety controls in areas with frequent mixed traffic, systematically addressing risks arising from mixed vessel traffic, according to local authorities.

On Tuesday, the Quanzhou Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) officially released details of the recommended navigation routes and safety zones for fishing vessels at Xiangzhi Fishing Port in Shishi, Quanzhou Bay. The measures primarily aim to safeguard maritime navigation safety, according to Quanzhou MSA.

Authorities identified significant risks during a comprehensive evaluation of maritime conditions at Xiangzhi fishing port—one of China's 12 National Central Fishing Ports—which houses over 600 registered fishing vessels with annual port throughput exceeding 37,000 trips.

The previous lack of dedicated navigation routes and the port's proximity to Quanzhou Bay's anchorage area and main commercial shipping lanes increased the risks amid heavy vessel traffic and complex maritime conditions, said Quanzhou MSA.

To systematically address these risks, the Quanzhou MSA collaborated with local bureau of ocean and fisheries and the Fujian Quanzhou Port Development Center, leveraging big data technology to delineate separate navigation routes for commercial and fishing vessels, authorities said.

According to the Quanzhou MSA, the technical project relied on precise analysis of fishing vessel traffic patterns. Using big data from the Fujian MSA, the team draws 10 lines to support the navigation route division.

The initiative includes clearly marked recommended fishing routes for fishing and innovative safety zones at high-traffic intersections, effectively alerting vessels to avoid collisions, Quanzhou MSA noted.

The maritime, fisheries, and port authorities are jointly strengthening crew training and awareness programs, reinforcing controls, and guiding orderly vessel movement along designated routes, the Quanzhou MSA said.

The plan was approved by experts on May 27, and the recommended routes and safety warning zones officially entered operation on Tuesday, The Paper reported.

According to the China Maritime Safety Administration website, Xiangzhi Fishing Port's recommended routes consist of northern and southern channels, each 200 meters wide.

Quanzhou is one of China's key ports, with Fujian provincial government data showing its cargo throughput reached 15.51 million tons in the first quarter of this year, up 1.41 percent, while container throughput increased by 2.20 percent to 460,000 TEUs.